Lessons Learned
by WingedWolf121
Summary: HighSchool!Au Erik Lensherr has found that he's failing...well, everything. Even worse, his tutor is Charles Xavier, the nerd who occupies the lowest rung of the social ladder. The fact that he's rather attracted to Charles doesn't help. Charles/Erik
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Revised edition! Yeah!**

I'm _what?_"

"Failing." Erik stared incredulously at Ms. Munroe. Sure, he'd gotten a couple of bad test grades…well, mostly bad test grades actually, and he'd missed a couple of homework assignments, but _failing?_ "I'm sorry Erik, but your grade in my class has been going into a downward spiral for this entire term. And from what I've heard from my colleagues, so have the rest of your grades." Ms. Munroe folded her arms and frowned at him across her desk. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Erik stared at the little pink slip. "Can I do any extra credit?"

"No. Extra credit is for students who want to bump up their grades from B+s to As, not students who show no effort whatsoever. My recommendation is that you find yourself a tutor."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Most of the students here were afraid of Erik. Mainly because he wore leather jackets and smoked and glared at everyone.

"I'll tell you what." Ms. Munroe sighed. "I can get you one of my brightest to tutor you, _if_ you promise to actually put some effort into your work."

"Okay." Anything to avoid bringing that little pink slip home to his mother. She'd be crushed, unless Erik could find a way to convince her it didn't actually mean he was failing. Unfortunately, her English wasn't _that_ bad. "Who?"

Ms. Munroe leaned around her desk. "Charles, may I speak to you for a minute?"

Oh no. She had to be kidding.

"Yes Ms. Munroe?" Charles Xavier, possibly the worst person to hang about for any length of time, hurried up to the desk. Erik groaned.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor, and tutor Erik here." Erik was praying that Charles would say no. Ms. Munroe was a cool teacher - she was actually from Africa, and had white hair that half the school swore was genetic and the other half claimed was dyed, and taught an interesting class.

Sure, Erik slept through her lectures on Environmental Science most of the time, but the couple times at the start of term he was awake he'd been interested. So surely, surely, she could tell that making Erik spend any amount of time with _Charles freaking Xavier_ was a terrible idea.

"I can do that." Charles turned his enormous blue eyes on Erik. "What are you having trouble with?"

"Nothing." Erik lied. "I can bring up my grades on my own."

"You certainly cannot, or you would have done it by now." Ms. Munroe said sharply. "Charles is my best student Erik, and you're likely to fail if you don't let him help you."

"But…" Charles flashed him a smile. Charles _always_ smiled at people, a trait Erik found positively bewildering, considering how few people smiled at Charles.

"Look, we can meet up after school okay?" Charles shifted his backpack strap. "Unless you have a study hall today or tomorrow."

"After school in the library." Erik glared at Charles. Ms. Munroe sighed.

"I'll see you there." Charles trotted back to his desk and picked up the rest of his books. Erik couldn't believe his bad luck. He stalked out into the hall, half hoping someone would give him an excuse to start a fight.

That wouldn't look good on his report card, but it would sure as hell help his mood.

"Hello, Erik." Emma fell into step next to him. "You look happy."

"Shut it, Frost." She snickered. Erik was one of the few people in the school who could get away with rudeness towards Emma Frost, the undisputed queen of Manquin High School. Emma Frost was blonde, gorgeous, and every boy in school was willing to do nearly anything to get her attention.

Charles was an exception to that rule.

"Move, fag." Erik glanced across the hall to see Azazel shove Charles into a locker hard enough to make the much smaller boy rebound off it. _That_ was the generally accepted reason for Charles not ever trying to impress Emma.

Erik thought it was possible that Charles was just smart enough to know that he didn't have a chance with Emma anyway, seeing as no one had _actually_ confirmed whether or not he was gay. Janos claimed the guy had kissed him and asked him out, but Erik was…not entirely sure that Janos could be trusted.

Anyway, considering that Charles was short and slight and had succulent pink lips and long fingers and wavy brown hair, and had never dated a girl, it was no wonder the rumor mill had labeled him as gay. And the resident Teacher's Pet - Charles was always talking to a teacher, or answering a question, and he carried around more books than the entire cheer squad combined.

Erik had never had a conversation with him and never wanted to have a conversation with him. But somebody had to be at the absolute bottom of the social ladder, and Charles had accepted the position with a cheerful attitude. Erik himself had been instantly categorized as the bad boy, and accepted into Emma's circle (he wasn't quite sure how _that_ happened, but suspected it had to do with his looks).

"Little shit." Azazel grumbled. He moved to a position by Emma's shoulder. "I swear, next time he bumps into me with that enormous backpack, I'm knocking his head off his shoulders."

"Be careful." Erik sighed. "That's my new tutor you're talking about."

"You _cannot_ be serious." Emma burst out laughing. A rare action, for someone Erik had (at least inside his head) nicknamed Ice Queen. "The Professor is going to be spending time with you?"

"At least you can confirm for us whether he's as rich as they say he is." Janos offered. He always appeared when Azazel did. Both of them were on the football team, and Erik suspected the entire female population at Manquin had a crush on one or the other.

Not that he blamed them, Janos was gorgeous. Not that Erik had ever looked.

"Oh, he's loaded." Emma opened her locker and sneered across the hallway at Charles. The boy had recovered from his brush with the lockers quickly, and was loading different books into his backpack. "Principle Shaw knows the Xaviers - they could buy the crown jewels if they wanted to. Makes you wonder why he doesn't wear better clothes."

"Who knows." Azazel leaned against the lockers. Azazel didn't carry books around. They appeared on his desk. "So your highness, are we going out tonight?"

"You wish." Emma sniffed. Erik and Janos snickered. "I'm going to spend the night giggling over Erik's date with Professor 'I'm going to Oxford' Xavier."

"It's not a _date_, it's Ms. Munroe forcing me to spend time with that little nerd!" Erik snapped. His gaze flickered across the hallway. Charles either hadn't heard them, or was ignoring them. "I'd ditch him, but she'd throw a fit."

"Whatever you say Erik." Emma rolled her shoulders.

* * *

><p>Erik leaned against the school and hoped that maybe his tutor wouldn't show up. It would be a bit humiliating to be ditched by the lowest of the low, but then he wouldn't have to go through with the session. Unfortunately, Charles trotted up as soon as Erik lit a cigarette.<p>

"Did you know that smoking can give you 12 different kinds of cancer?" Erik stared at Charles.

"And hello to you too."

"It also makes your teeth and fingernails yellow. _And_ it's illegal to buy cigarettes if you're under eighteen." Erik ground his teeth. "It also smells positively revolting."

"These sessions are going to be hell." Charles smiled at him.

"So could you please stop?" Erik rolled his eyes and extinguished his cigarette. "Thank you."

"You know Ms. Munroe wants you to tutor me, not critique my personal habits."

"Well yes, but since if you smoke near me I'll inhale the smoke and that increases my risk of cancer, I'm really only worrying about my health. Though yours is probably suffering as well." Charles yanked a book out of his bag. "What subject do you want to start with?"

"What do you mean, which subject? You're only helping me with Enviro." Charles smiled at him apologetically.

"Well, the thing is, Ms. Munroe told the PreCalc teacher and the Classics teacher and the History teacher that I'm your tutor now and they all told me to help you in their subjects…" Charles shrugged sheepishly. "Apparently, you're on the point of failing in those subjects too."

"Great." Erik groaned. His mother was going to kill him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can catch you up." Charles smiled at him. "It's just going to take some effort."

"Joy." Erik scowled. Charles held out the book. "What is this?"

"Our Environmental Sciences textbook, and I'm a bit worried that you don't recognize it. Did you do _any_ of the homework?" Erik thought. He wasn't that bad a student, he'd done quite well back in Germany…

"I did the worksheets." Charles rubbed his forehead.

"So, about one homework in seven. Right. Do you at least have your own copy of the textbook?" Erik flushed angrily. He'd been going to buy one, but then he'd seen their electricity bill, and he hadn't had the heart to ask his mother for the money. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Pardon?" Charles blinked at him.

"That you didn't have the money." Erik stared at him. Charles backtracked. "Um, not that I mean that in a bad way, and I swear I'm not going to broadcast that or anything…please don't kill me?"

"How did you know that?" Charles had managed to take several steps back. Erik fought back amusement. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh, really? Thanks!" Charles stepped forward. "It was written all over your face."

"Great." Erik sighed. All he needed was a rich kid making comments about Erik's relative state of poverty.

"So, you can just have my textbook." Charles dumped it into his arms and began rummaging in his bag. "Now, I know I've got a preCalculus textbook…" it was dragged out and tossed at Erik. "And here's the World History!"

Erik stared at the mound of books he'd been given. How much were these _worth?_

"I can't take these." Charles zipped his backpack up again.

"Yes, you can. I can buy new ones. Besides, you're never going to pass if you don't do any of the reading, and if you don't pass I won't get any extra credit for tutoring." Erik had seen a few of Charles's test scores. He really didn't need extra credit.

Teacher's pet.

"Do you want to start with Environmental Sciences, since that's one you're in the most danger with?" Charles asked. Erik shrugged. "Good enough. I've got half an hour at the very most for this, so we can't really get deep into it, but I can at least figure out a study plan."

"_You've_ got places to go?" Upon reflection, insulting the kid who was supposed to stop him from failing half his classes was a very bad idea. But thinking before speaking was never Erik's area of expertise.

"I have to pick up my little sister." Charles didn't seem insulted. "Do you have any study halls?"

"No." Lie, but Erik wasn't going to be caught dead with Charles during school hours.

"Well, I can't send anyone else to pick Raven up." Charles bit his lip. Erik tried not to be distracted. "Do you mind coming along? She's a quiet kid, and once I've got her we can go to a library."

"Whatever." Erik felt it would be somewhat rude to refuse such a simple request, especially when Charles had just given him _three freaking textbooks._ "Is it far?"

"Only a five minute drive." Charles led the way to the parking lot. Erik frowned.

"Aren't faculty the only ones allowed to park here?"

"Dr. Carroll takes public transit, and he said I could have his space." Teacher's pet. Charles trotted over to a BMW.

Charles had a foreign car that cost more than Erik's entire apartment building, and Erik couldn't afford textbooks. Life was unfair. Erik glanced around to make sure no one was watching - not that anyone hung out in the faculty parking lot, but better safe than sorry - and got in.

* * *

><p>Erik hadn't been this close to small children in years. Charles hurried forward, scanning the crowds of elementary school students. Erik followed and tried not to touch anything.<p>

"Charles!" Charles suddenly smiled, and for about a minute Erik could swear there was nothing else in the world except Charles, who was glowing. He blinked and shook his head.

"Hey Raven!" Charles grabbed an adorable blonde girl and tossed her in the air. "Did you have a good day?"

"Mmmhm." The blonde girl, whom Erik assumed to be Raven, caught a glimpse of him. She immediately buried her head in Charles's shoulder. Erik tried not to be insulted.

"Raven, this is Erik. Erik, meet my little sister, Raven." Two bright blue eyes appeared over Charles's shoulder, before Raven ducked her head again. "We're going to the library so I can help him with some schoolwork, okay?"

"Mmmhm." Charles smiled at Erik apologetically. Erik shrugged. He wasn't good with kids anyway. Unlike Charles, who, within five minutes of them being at the library, had found Raven a picture book and gotten her seated on his lap.

Those people who didn't think gay people should have kids clearly didn't know shit.

"So, how about we start with the homework. That's page 134, questions 1 to 13." Erik flipped to the page. "Do you understand any of this?"

Erik stared at the page. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Charles took one look at his face and quickly flipped back a chapter.

It took five chapters before Erik was working with things he actually recognized. Charles coughed.

"Well, we'll start from here then. I can see if Ms. Munroe will let you make up the work instead of doing tonight's homework, because if you don't understand this you certainly can't do our current work…" Charles shifted his chair closer to Erik's. Erik moved away.

"Whatever."

"Look, no one here knows you okay?" Charles rolled his eyes. "There are about three kids from our school who come to this library, and none of them come to the section meant for five year olds. So relax." Erik flushed. "Anyways. Let me explain the tectonic plate movement."

After two hours of explanations, Erik's mind was ready to implode. Also, he'd found out that Charles was better at explaining things than half the teachers he'd had, even the ones back in Germany.

"I think that's a good enough stopping point for today." Charles closed the book. "You look like you're either going to start screaming or curl up into a ball and whimper."

"I don't _whimper_." Erik emphasized. Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Of course not. That noise you were making when I was drawing the diagrams for the lunar pull was just manly growling." Erik laughed despite himself. "Do you have any questions about your homework for your other classes?"

"Um." Erik wasn't sure what his homework for his other classes was. Charles shot him an exasperated look.

"Erik, I'm trying to help you, but you've got to put some work into this. Don't you want to graduate?" Yes, Erik wanted to graduate. For his mother, if for nothing else. She'd worked so hard trying to get them to America, trying to get Erik any sort of future…

"I'll study." Erik finally said. Charles smiled at him, and it looked a little bit like the world-shattering grin he'd given Raven. Who was now asleep on Charles's lap.

"Excellent! Do you want to meet up tomorrow to go over PreCalculus?" Erik shrugged. He supposed that avoiding being at home to actually study was better than avoiding going home by wandering through the city until he found something to do.

"I guess." Charles got up, holding Raven on one hip. She yawned and snuggled her head into his jacket. "Your sister is adorable."

"Thank you." Charles smiled down at Raven. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No." Thank God.

"Pity, I find that they greatly enrich one's life." Maybe for the rich. "Do you want a ride home?"

"I'll take public transit."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow!" Charles gathered all his books into his arms. "Look over the textbook and see if you have any questions." Erik watched Charles leave. With Raven on his arm, he could've been a literal angel.

* * *

><p>"Wo bist du gewesen?" Erik sighed and chucked his textbooks on the moth-bitten couch of the apartment. He still had trouble calling it home. "Wo hast du die Bücher bekommen?"<p>

"Mit…" What was he supposed to call Charles anyway? He was hardly a friend. "Mit einen Klassenkamerad. Er hat mir bei den Hausaufgaben geholfen."

"Gut, gut." His mother beamed. Erik sighed. "Ist er gut in der Schule?"

"Ja Mutter." He really hated lying to his mother. "Ist das Essen fertig?"

"Ja." He went through their apartment to the kitchen. It was really a _tiny_ place, with a living room that had only one small television and a couch, two closet sized bedrooms, and a kitchen that doubled as a dining room.

And despite that, they were still behind on rent. Charles probably lived in a huge house in suburbia with his darling little sister and read books and was gorgeous. Which Erik didn't think and even if it was slightly true it wasn't something he cared about, and why did he remember that one time Charles had wet his finger to turn the page of a textbook so vividly?

Erik was pretty sure his inability not to think about that was a bad sign. And that his neighbors were getting ready to play loud, impossible to sleep through, music. Again.

Fuck his life.

**A/N: I fixed the German! *Fistpumps* Okay no, a wonderful reviewer did. But I'm still happy about it. **

**The translation is:**

**Mother: "Where have you been? Where did you get the books?"**

**Erik: "With…with a classmate. He was helping me with schoolwork."**

**Mother: "Good, good! Are you doing well in school?"**

**Erik: "Yes mother. Is dinner ready?"**

**Mother: "Yes."**

**I really love reviewers! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapitre Deux. I'm sorry this is late, but life sucks sometimes, and I haven't had time. But today I decided to celebrate the lack of fire (long story…) by getting my shit together and posting. And oh my gosh, thank you so much for the reviews! Seeing them in my email is always the best part of my day.**

**And, just an fyi: Next time Erik and his mom are talking, I promise not to use Google translate. **

**Disclaimer: Still don't own X-Men. Or McAvoy. Or Fassy. Or the lady who plays Emma. Sigh…**

"So, what was it like being tutored by the nerd?" Emma asked. Erik shrugged and sat down at their lunch table.

"Come on, you must have something to share." Janos said. He nabbed a fry off Azazel's plate, and nodded to Charles. Charles was seated alone at a table in the corner, buried in a book. "Stupid fairy thinks he's better than everyone else."

"We just went to the library and went over some science." Erik paused. "He drives a beamer."

"God, he's spoiled." Emma muttered.

"And he got one of the teachers to let him park it in their space." Erik added. Charles looked very small at the table there. He was the only one in the whole cafeteria who didn't have anyone to sit with.

"Teacher's pet." Azazel said. He pushed Janos away from the fries. "I wonder if he paid for that with sexual favors?"

"Nah, he's got standards." Erik flushed slightly when Emma raised an eyebrow at him. "He wouldn't do it for a parking space. But for a .0001 gpa boost, he'd bend over a fucking desk."

Emma hooted with laughter. Erik reminded himself that Charles was just tutoring him, and he had no obligation to lose his friends when Charles was never going to hear about this conversation anyway.

* * *

><p>"So, did you hear that Xavier got assfucked by a teacher for extra credit?" Erik froze. The gaggle of freshmen kept walking down the corridor, apparently oblivious to him.<p>

"Yeah. That's _so_ weird, can you imagine?"

"What, Xavier giving himself up for a grade boost? Nah, I heard he's neurotic about grades."

"Please, I heard he's so desperate for a date that he'd do it for free."

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._ Erik peered across the hallway. Charles was pulling books out of his locker in a cheerful manner, quite ignorant of the freshman speculating about him having an affair with a teacher.

"Hey, Xavier!" Erik just stopped himself from flinching as Victor-another of the jock crowd that Azazel and Janos hung out with-strode up to Charles. Charles blinked and looked at him.

Oh, dear. Victor had to weigh three times as much as Charles.

"May I help you?"

"I heard you got assfucked by a teacher." Charles burst out laughing. In Victor's face. Erik fought the urge to fist pump. Victor scowled. "So?"

"So what? That's ridiculous!" Charles smiled at Victor. "Thank you, I haven't heard anything that funny since the one about you and Emma Frost."

Burn_._ Erik winced. In his experience, those like Victor didn't react well when insulted, even in such a non deliberate way. And even when the insulter was half their size, and clearly in no position to defend themselves.

_Slam_. Charles coughed as Victor punched him in the gut. Half the hallway flinched. The other half made appreciative noises. Erik eyed the crowd of freshmen-the only one he really recognized was Angel Salvadore, and only because her shirt showed the edges of the tattoos that made her infamous.

"Don't you act better than me, faggot." Charles nodded rapidly.

"I assure you, I had no intention of-"

"Whatever. Being around you makes me feel like I'm about to be groped." Victor turned away and wandered down the corridor, smirking. Erik very much wanted to punch him.

Yeah, right. And then he'd get gang-tackled by the football team next time he went to piss, that would be loads of fun. Erik quickly turned back to his locker and grabbed his new PreCalculus textbook as a shield, in case anyone looked at him.

* * *

><p>PreCalculus was hell. Not only because Erik was actually paying attention instead of sleeping and therefore realized that he didn't understand most of this, and not only because the teacher <em>hated<em> him.

There was also the fact that every time he almost fell asleep, he could see Charles getting hit in the stomach. Again, and again, and again. How much did Victor weigh, 170? 200? Who went up to somebody who probably weighed 120 soaking wet and just _punched _them?

Admittedly, Charles laughing in his face was the worst response ever. But it had sure as hell been fun to watch. Erik shook his head and tried to focus on the board.

Fucking neighbors and their fucking music. How was he supposed to concentrate in class when bad pop hits were constantly blasted through his wall at home? Erik rubbed his head and was very thankful that he had French next. He was fluent in French, he could nap right through that class.

The bell rang. Erik began gathering up his books.

He glanced over at Mr. Vega. Who was talking to Charles. Who was gesturing very emphatically with his hands and apparently somehow getting through, because Mr. Vega was actually nodding and looking thoughtful.

What in the world was that about? Charles didn't even take this class. He was in the AP course. In fact, Charles took mostly AP courses.

…stupid smart rich kids.

* * *

><p>"Erik!" Charles trotted up to him, overloaded with books as usual. "Guess what?"<p>

"Yes?" Erik shifted. They were in the faculty parking lot again, ensuring that no one would be there, but still. Charles didn't have to be so loud.

"I talked to your math teacher, and if we can get you to the same level as the rest of the class in two weeks, he'll let you take a special test encompassing the whole year up to now, then average that out against your former grade." Charles beamed at him. Erik felt like a piece of shit.

"How the hell did you get him to do that?"

"I can be persuasive! And did you know that smoking makes you age faster?" Erik rolled his eyes and snuffed out the cigarette. "It _does_. And if a teacher catches you, you'll end up in detention."

"Don't be ridiculous Charles." Erik grinned. "You'll save me with your mighty powers of teacher persuasion."

"What makes you think I won't be sitting on the sidelines cheering the teacher on?" Charles asked indignantly. "Smoking is _bad_ Erik."

"There are plenty of bad things which happen in life Charles, smoking is a relatively little evil." Erik stepped forward and took the stack of books in Charles's arms. "Here. You're going to break your arms, what is all this stuff?"

"Yes, but it's an evil you can control. And that's my complete Lord of the Rings, and a copy of Jane Eyre because we're reading it this year in English, a copy of Hamlet, the AP Chemistry textbook, a few bits of supplementary reading for History…" Charles shrugged. "Not much."

"You read too much."

"You can never read too much!" Charles exclaimed. "Are you reading anything now?"

"…no." Erik did enjoy reading. He just didn't have time for it. Ever.

"What?" Charles looked positively alarmed. "We must fix that."

"Do we have to?" Erik asked plaintively. Charles glared at him and opened the car door, motioning for Erik to dump the books in the back seat.

"Yes. Reading increases your brainpower and improves your skills as a writer. Though you're doing pretty well in English, from what I hear." Erik shook his head.

"How do you find these things out?"

"The teachers, for reasons unknown to me, have me grade their test papers." Erik was going to abstain from passing that on to the rumor mill. "It's a bit of a pain, but I do get extra credit off it, and the teachers have enough work."

Was Charles nice to _everyone?_ That was the kindest thing Erik had heard someone say about a teacher since…ever.

"And of course you need the extra credit." Erik deadpanned. He got into the car.

"I'm going to Oxford." There was absolute determination in Charles's voice. "And if that means spending study hall grading a few tests, so be it. There are worse things I could be doing."

"So sayeth your reputation." Erik had to stop _doing_ that. Charles giggled.

"That's hilarious." Charles waved a hand. "I have no idea where people get these things, but I bet someone could write an absolutely fantastic paper on it. I would, but I'm not exactly privy to the inner workings of the hierarchy."

"Got that right." Erik grimaced. To admit to unintentionally starting, or to not admit to unintentionally starting… "It may have had something to do with Janos and Azazel, but I'm not sure." That was sort of true.

"Huh. That would explain Victor being in the know." Charles said thoughtfully. "I wonder what draws jocks together that way? Is it the shared testosterone, the interest in sports…"

"The stupidity." Erik said flatly. "Azazel and Janos are both smarter than they let on, but Vic's a creep."

"I suppose." Charles turned down the street to Raven's school. "I wonder if today Raven will be able to talk in front of you?"

"What's her problem, anyway?" Charles parked and got out of the car. Erik followed.

"She has a few trust issues, and have you seen yourself?" Charles flashed him a smile. "You garnered the position of bad boy for a reason." Erik blinked down at his leather jacket and black turtleneck.

Maybe Charles had a point. He held back as a ball of blonde energy leapt into Charles's arms and began chattering at hundred mph. As soon as Charles turned around and Raven caught sight of Erik, she froze. Charles shrugged as she buried her face in his jacket.

Well, that was insulting.

"Raven, this is Erik. Remember him? I'm helping him with schoolwork." Raven nodded into his shoulder. "I promise, he's actually a big marshmallow."

"I am not!"

"See? He's protesting a lot. That means he knows I'm right, because I know _everything._"

"Do not." Raven's voice was muffled. Erik nodded in agreement. Charles sighed.

"You're ganging up with Erik? That's cold, little one."

"'m not little." Charles waved at the teacher and tossed Erik Raven's backpack. Erik had it slung over his shoulder before it occurred to him what Emma would say if she spotted him sporting a bright pink bag.

"Are you big?"

"Mhmm!"

"As big as an elephant?"

"Mhmm!"

"How can you be as big an elephant? I'm a wimp, I can't haul an elephant around!" Erik muffled a laugh in his sleeve. Charles rolled his eyes at him. "Does that make me bigger than an elephant?"

"Nu-uh!"

"For what it's worth, I think you're both tiny." Erik offered. Raven took her head from Charles's shoulder long enough to frown at him.

"He's big." Charles bounced her.

"Oh, definitely. Erik is much taller than me, and I'm much taller than you. I think logic says that Erik is right." Raven detached herself enough to cross her arms. "Raven, be nice. He's carrying your bag."

"Thank-you Erik." Erik coughed. He had the feeling that Charles was laughing at him.

"You're welcome." Charles trotted to the car and buckled Raven in. "I went over the textbooks."

"And?" Erik flushed slightly as Charles held open Erik's door. It was polite and nice and _gay_.

"I don't understand anything." Charles got into the car, frowning.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that. I think we'd better focus on PreCalc, just because you _need_ to understand that. Raven darling, are you hungry?"

"Mmhmm." Charles smiled at Erik.

"Do you mind getting food? There's a nice little coffeshop a few minutes from here." Erik felt his throat go dry. That sounded like a date. The last thing he needed was to be going on a date with a guy, let alone Charles Xavier. "I can't have my sister starve to death."

"Sure." Erik settled himself against the window, and prayed no one would see him. Even though it wasn't like it was actually a date or anything. Actual dates were different. Actual dates didn't have five year old chaperones.

Even though he didn't need a chaperone, because nothing would happen, because Charles was just tutoring him and Erik wasn't interested in any non-tutoring activities anyway.

* * *

><p>Well, at least Erik knew no one was going to see him here.<p>

"I'll have an Earl Grey, Raven gets a small hot chocolate-"

"With whipped cream!"

"With whipped cream, and a ham and cheese sandwhich, and Erik, I'm guessing you take your coffee black?" Erik nodded. Apart from the fact that a black coffee was one of the few things on the menu he recognized, it was also one of the few things he could afford to buy. And even then…

Yeah, no teenager was coming in here.

"Your total comes to 23.50." Erik just barely concealed a wince. Charles however, stepped right up and handed over a twenty and a ten.

"Keep the change." Stupid rich people. Charles handed Raven her hot chocolate and nodded towards a table in the back of the room. "Erik, do you want put the books down over there and I'll grab our drinks?"

"Sure." Erik took Charles's bag. "Charles, how do you not constantly fall over?"

"Natural grace and agility." Erik snorted. "And a lot of practice."

"Right." Erik lugged the bag over a booth. It was actually quite a nice little secluded place, with no window nearby or any way at all for someone from school to know that he was there. Charles trotted over a few minutes later, balancing Raven and two large cups. "Do you just not enjoy star bucks?"

"This place has much better tea." Charles plopped down in a seat. Raven wiggled off his lap and began devouring her sandwich. "Besides, there are fewer people, which I thought you'd appreciate."

"Um." Erik felt rather bad about how accurate that was.

"I don't mind." Charles grinned at him. "In fact, I think it's a compliment to my tutoring skills that you haven't yet hurled a book at my head and denounced my company."

"Charles!" Charles laughed. "It's not…I mean…Look, I'm here by choice okay? Ms. Munroe was only making me do one session."

"Thanks." Charles took a sip of tea. "So, your questions?"

**A/N: Just a note: more unbelievable things than rumors like that happen in high school. Believe me, I speak from experience. And I swear, next update is going to be quicker. Review, pretty please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Just to clarify: Nobody has powers. I almost did, but then I decided it was too much work. Plus, if people have powers, I can't just pull from my own high school experience. Bullying, failing, and social circles I know. However, none of my friends are mutants.**

…**.or ARE they? **

**Wow, you guys were pissed at Erik. It gave me loads of ideas. Thank you so much, your reviews are just the most wonderful thingies ever. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own MARVEL, or Stan Lee, or High School, or a museum. I wish I owned a museum. I would make it all about cats. **

Erik could feel his feet dragging as he walked down the halls. It was early. Too early. He _hated_ mornings and school and the crowds of freshmen who crowded the halls. He growled at one and was vaguely delighted by the way it flinched away.

"God, you're in a good mood." Janos commented. Erik glared at the other male and resented his general shininess.

"Give me that coffee." Janos snickered and sipped it. Erik wished death and destruction on the man.

"Sup Erik, Jan. Hey, coffee." Azazel appeared and took the coffee. Erik glared and resented Azazel for not getting punched. Emma wandered up sipping a large and frothy beverage that also smelled heavenly, if horribly corrupted by sugar and foam.

"Morning Erik. Gosh, you look tired." She chuckled and stirred the beverage. "Up late studying?"

"Yes." Erik scowled. "Test."

"Well, there's your coffee." Emma nodded across the hall. Charles had a cup of what was probably highly concentrated highly caffeinated tea. Erik winced. "His _teacher_ will probably give him another and then some."

"Would you shut up about that?" Erik snapped. "I seriously doubt that, regardless of his orientation, Charles is having an affair with a teacher!"

…that came out louder than he intended. Emma was giving him a vaguely amused look, and Janos was hanging off Azazel's shoulder in fits of laughter. Azazel was choking on Janos's coffee.

"Dude, no shit." Janos said, sniggering. Erik frowned at him. "But it's _hilarious_."

Erik very much wanted to point out that this wasn't hilarious at all. Azazel tossed back the contents of his coffee cup and clapped Janos on the shoulder.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Come on, we should get to class." Azazel said. He nodded to Erik. "See you at lunch Lensherr. Don't die before you get there." He banged Charles into a locker as they passed.

* * *

><p>"You are a seriously great person." Erik said, the second Charles walked up to him. Charles nodded slowly.<p>

"Um, that totally threw me off. Why are you telling me?" Erik shrugged.

"Wanted to make sure you knew. No matter what anyone else thinks."

"O-kay. Anyway, it has come to my attention that, in the scramble to up your Science grade and your math grade, we have neglected the Classics." Charles announced. Erik eyed him. "Therefore, we're going to the art museum."

"Do I have to?" Charles grinned at him.

"Yes. I have a membership, so no yammering about the cost." Erik sighed. That was going to be his argument.

"It might have expired."

"I renewed it last Saturday. Come on Erik, don't you want to be cultured?" Charles smiled at him. The light caught Charles's profile perfectly, highlighting his cheeks and making his eyes even brighter. Erik blinked.

"Uh…" Charles had to _stop_ that. It was probably detrimental to his grades when his brain short circuited.

"I'll take that as a yes." Charles pulled into the kindergarten parking lot, and a brilliant idea struck Erik.

"What about Raven?" Erik followed Charles through the mob of small children. He'd had more contact with these little things in the last week than in his entire life. "Won't she mind having to go to an extremely boring museum?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Charles stepped forward and grabbed Raven by her armpits, eliciting a shriek of laughter. "Raven, you want to go to the museum with Erik and I, right?"

"Yeah!" Of course, Charles would have the only sister in the world who liked going to museums. "Can I have a present from the gift shop?"

"If you behave." Oh. Erik raised his eyebrows as Charles put Raven in the backseat.

"Bribery, Charles?"

"If it works, it works." Erik grunted. "You know, you're using very short sentences today."

"Didn't get much sleep." And that had absolutely not been because he'd been convincing himself that he wasn't attracted to Charles Xavier. Which had of course, been blown to hell while walking in the hallway when Charles bent over to pick up a book.

"Why not?"

"I have loud neighbors. Who insist on blasting their music _every fu_-" Charles coughed loudly. "Freaking night." Charles flashed him a grin and nodded towards Raven. She stared at them both.

"Don't need her picking up that language." Charles said in an undertone. "I get more than enough calls from her teacher as it is."

Erik got into the car and wondered how in the world someone with a brother like Charles could have problems in school. Let alone be having problems as early as _kindergarten._ If he lived with someone that smart…

That wasn't fair to his mother. She was plenty smart, and she'd helped Erik with homework hundreds of times, back in Germany, when she'd known the language and they were fine even if they did live in a crappy little apartment and even if they had no money and no _anything_. It was hardly her fault she was working two jobs and barely had time to learn English.

"What's wrong?" Erik shook himself out of his thoughts. "You looked very contemplative."

"Nothing." So how in the world did one end up with problems in kindergarten? Erik glanced back at Raven, who was watching him from the backseat. As adorable as she was, that was…disconcerting.

* * *

><p>Erik was beginning to realize that there was no way he would ever get out of this when Charles dragged him inside, cheerfully informing him that Erik didn't have to pay, the family membership allowed him a guest.<p>

"Professor X!" A security guard said with a grin. Erik eyed him warily. "We haven't seen you in awhile."

"I'm afraid I've been busy." Charles smiled at the guard. "How's the traffic been?"

"As crowded as it can be, in a town like this. You Xaviers are the most cultured people in the rat dump." Erik managed to keep himself from glaring, but only just. His mother and he were quite cultured, _thankyouverymuch._ Just because they neither had the time nor money (nor, on Erik's part, inclination) to go to a museum every other day didn't make them _philistines_

"If you say so Mr. Loe. Come on Erik." Charles hurried past the guards, not bothering to show them his card. "I apologize Erik, he's not the most politically correct of men."

"You two seem to know each other." Charles shrugged and began trotting along a corridor. Erik tried not to gawp at the paintings on the walls-he'd forgotten how imposing enormous canvasses were.

"My family donates a lot to this museum, and Raven and I are frequent patrons. So the staff recognize me." Erik snickered.

"And think you've gone to college?" Charles rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea how I ended up as a professor. Granted, I'm going to be one, but I'm unsure as to why my last name was shortened." Charles turned into the classical wing. "Here we are. Now, as we're currently focusing on Hera, I'd suggest you go over to the Argonauts fresco."

Clearly, Charles interpreted "go over" as "be dragged over". Erik decided it was pointless to resist and let himself be dragged. Besides, this was sort of cool. In a nerd way, yeah, but seeing a real marble whatever made it seem more real than just some bitch stalking a boat of hot young men.

Erik suddenly laughed. Charles raised his eyebrows at him.

"I'm just picturing Emma as Hera." Charles giggled.

"I'm sure that her highness would look stunning in a toga, but I doubt she would put up with Zeus."

"Emma would have just thrown him into Tartarus with the Titans." Charles laughed and clapped his shoulder.

"Now you're getting the picture of the ancient Greece." Charles glanced at Raven, who was studying a very large painting depicting the entire pantheon. "Raven sweetheart, are you okay?"

"'M fine." Charles studied her for a moment. Erik touched his elbow.

"Go make sure she's not getting any strange ideas. I need to pee anyway." Charles nodded and trotted over to Raven.

* * *

><p>Erik stared. In the time it had taken for him to use the bathrooms, Charles had somehow found ten small children. They sat on the floor in a semi-circle as Charles lectured about the picture, making wide gestures and sometimes eliciting laughter.<p>

Didn't know he got the nickname "Professor" Erik's ass.

Raven was front and center, at rapt attention. Several parents were gathered around as well, and Erik was pretty sure that most were just as interested as the kids.

He leaned against a wall and watched, a fond smile tugging at his lips. It was quite interesting how the ridiculous amount of information in Charles's head translated to elementary level history.

"So Zeus didn't want Prometheus to share fire with the mortals." Charles gestured to Zeus. "But Zeus didn't want to share. He wanted the gods to be the only ones who had fire."

"Why didn't they just use light bulbs?" asked a blonde in the front row. Several parents snickered.

"They didn't have light bulbs. Lightbulbs are powered by electricity, and that's not the same thing as fire. Back in ancient Greece, fire was the only way to stay warm." Charles caught sight of Erik and smiled at him. "But Prometheus did what he thought was right, and brought fire to civilization."

"Was Zeus mad?" asked another cherub. Charles nodded solemnly.

"Yes. He chained Prometheus to a rock for eternity-that means forever." The children gasped. "But eventually Zeus was glad Prometheus did what he did, because humans started to invent things after this, and if they hadn't we would have any other stories." Charles smiled at all of them. "Now go back to your parents. If you need anything else explained, feel free to ask."

Charles walked up to Erik as the children dispersed.

"Do I want to know how you ended up teaching a class?"

"I have no idea." Charles shrugged. "I was explained a frieze to Raven, and suddenly there were more of them." He blushed. "I didn't meant to distract you."

"Excuse me, how much do I tip you?" Charles blinked and turned to a woman standing behind him with her wallet out. "I haven't seen Sean be quiet for that long while awake since he was a baby!"

"Thank you, but I don't work here." Charles smiled at her. Erik thought the woman was going to swoon. "I was explaining to...Erik, where's Raven?"

"Ogling the statue of the hermaphrodite." Charles winced.

"That's going to be a fun conversatiom. Anyway, I was only explaining to her and the others just wandered over." Charles tugged his sleeves nervously. "Sorry."

"Oh." The woman looked embarrassed. "Thank you anyway."

Charles smiled at Erik as she walked away. "I've got to go stop Raven from touching anything, can you take notes on your own?"

"I think I can manage for ten minutes without you holding my hand." Not that he was ever going to hold Charles's hand.

* * *

><p>It only took another half hour for Raven to get hungry and bored. In that time, Erik got to watch Charles be dragged around various exhibits by strange children and complimented by all manner of parental figures.<p>

"Does this happen to you in all public places?" Erik asked dryly, as he set his tray on a table. The museum had a food court, thank all that was good. He'd selected a grilled cheese, as it was the cheapest thing on the menu and Erik still felt bad about Charles paying for everything.

"You'd be surprised. I have no idea what it is about me that's so appealing to the younglings." Charles shrugged. Raven giggled and thrust a hand into her bowl of noodles. "Raven! Use your spork!"

"I'm hungry!" Raven jammed a fistful of noodles in her mouth. Erik snickered. Charles sighed.

"I'll go get some napkins." Charles hurried away.

"Are you Charles's friend?" Erik started. Raven was staring at him, like she'd managed to blot out the rest of the world and focus entirely on him. Where, exactly, did she learned how to do that?

"Well, yes." It was _weird_ being stared down by a kindergartner.

"Good." Raven nodded decisively. "He needs more friends."

Erik had to agree.

"Do you have a lot of friends?" Raven shrugged, eerily reminiscent of Charles.

"Some. At school." She flushed a little bit. "Hank is my friend."

"Who's Hank?"

"He's smart. And cool for a _boy_." Raven wrinkled her nose. Erik was guessing that had to do with cooties. "Do you have a lot of friends?"

"Some. At school." Well, he had Emma and Azazel and Janos, who he at least hung out with, even if he didn't exactly _trust_ them. There weren't very many other people who talked to him, which Erik was fine with. He preferred being alone. Except for Charles.

"Glad to you two getting along-what's the topic?" Charles sat down and took Raven's hands, wiping down through the sound of her protests.

"Friends." Erik muttered, concentrating on his sandwich.

"Oh? Then I suppose you've heard about the ever-patient Hank McCoy?" Charles released Raven's hands and gave her a spork. Raven began to yammer about Hank and his dinosaur collection.

* * *

><p>By the time they finally got out of the museum it was closing time, and Raven was asleep on Charles's shoulder.<p>

"You're good with kids." Erik commented.

"Lots of practice."

"Planning on having any?" Erik could picture Charles with a few million, all running around a huge suburban house and driving each other mad.

"Adopting, probably." Charles hitched Raven into a more comfortable position.

"Not your own?"

"Well, you know." Charles turned just a bit, so Raven was on the shoulder farthest from Erik. "Gay." Erik's step faltered for a moment. So if, hypothetically, he wanted to kiss Charles, Charles might possibly be into it. Hypothetically.

"Oh."

"You didn't know?" Charles flashed him an odd look. "People at school make a big enough deal out of it."

"I hardly see a person whose never talked to you calling you an offensive name a reputable source. Nor some rumor about Janos." Charles chuckled.

"God, that rumor…" Erik looked at him inquiringly. "Janos kissed me, most likely on a dare and I um, reciprocated. Quite enthusiastically." Erik scowled. Now he wanted to rip Janos's head off his shoulders. "In my defense, Janos is quite attractive."

"He's still a douche."

"Don't be hard on Janos. What with that diehard crush he has on Azazel, it's no wonder he's always so mean." Erik coughed.

"His _what?_"

"Shh, you'll wake Raven up. And yes, I'm surprised you didn't notice. Janos never takes his eyes off the man." Charles shrugged. "I'm also quite sure that Azazel has no idea and that Janos is in denial deeper than Mariana's trench."

Erik grunted. Well that was certainly news. At least he wasn't the only one who was in denial _shut up brain._

**A/N: I will ship Janos and Azazel for no reason at all until I die. Canon can, to quote Wolverine, go fuck itself. And Ohmygod speaking of canon I got Ultimate X-Men volumes 1-8 for my birthday and my very own copy of XMFC. I am SO EXCITED.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ultimate X-Men has, thus far, left me with two impressions:**

**1. I don't care if Logan left Scott to die (I never liked that little prick anyway), I still love him.**

**2. First Class's slashyness was by no means stretching canon. Because seriously, slashlsfugdfgh CHERIK FOREVER IS SO TOTALLY CANON. In my opinion.**

**3. Jean. Your hair is beautiful. Why is there so little of it?**

**Disclaimer: Bwahaha, no I don't own MARVEL you silly lawyers.**

Erik peered out into the rain. As far as he could tell, the entire school was either bolting for buses with their binders over their heads, or glaring into the rain and pretending they weren't soaking wet and miserable.

Did no one own an umbrella?

He leaned against the doorway. As someone who didn't have an umbrella and _needed_ their notes to stay legible, Erik had no intention of going into that. Odds were Charles would find him after a few minutes.

His phone buzzed. Erik blinked and stared down at it. He hadn't thought anyone had his number.

_Erik: roof leaking. Come home and fix it. Maman._

Since _when_ did his _mother_ text? Or have a cell phone? She'd insisted on him having one in case of emergencies, but they both agreed she didn't need one. The phone buzzed again.

_Using our neighbors cellphone, our line went down. Need you to fix that too._

Oy. Erik tapped out a reply.

_I'll get home as fast as I can. _Shit, he had that PreCalc test tomorrow. He'd been going to go over everything with Charles, with the hope of figuring out every last detail.

"Did you know that you are the slowest texter I've ever seen?" Erik jumped. Charles had appeared in the rain, and was peering at Erik's fingers with interest. He also had an enormous black umbrella.

"Ha ha. I don't do it often." Charles nodded wisely. "That was my mother."

"She can text?" Charles looked honestly impressed.

"Apparently. And our roof is leaking…" Erik ran a hand through his hair. "It won't take long to fix, but I live awhile away."

"Oh." Charles looked disappointed. Erik noticed that one side of his body was soaked in dirty water, and a knuckle was torn. Charles followed his eyes. "Oh, don't worry about that. They didn't get my books wet."

"Do you want to come over?" Why did he say that? "My mother is always bemoaning the fact that we never have company anymore, and I could use the help."

"Will she mind Raven?" Charles bit his lip. "I'd love to come over, but she does need someone to watch her."

"Believe me, my mother will be thrilled at having a little girl in the house." Had he gone insane in the time since last period? Not that his mother wouldn't be overjoyed to actually meet one of his friends, but…he had trouble picturing Charles or Raven in their apartment.

"Then I'm pleased to accept your invitation." Charles smiled at him. "Now come on. My umbrella can fit you."

Erik ducked from the doorway and under the shelter. It brought him far too close to Charles for comfort. Especially a Charles who was dripping wet, so that little droplets ran down his neck and his shirt stuck to his body.

* * *

><p>Erik hurried down the path to Raven's school with Charles. They were among several parents, many of whom didn't have umbrellas. Erik tried not to feel smug as they walked into the building.<p>

Wow. He'd forgotten how many small bodies could fit into one lobby. Charles sighed.

"Agh. I hate rainy days. Erik, let's split up. You go on the right side, I'll try the left." Erik nodded. Charles flashed him a grin. "Good luck."

"Same to you." Erik plunged into the wet coats. "Raven? Raven?"

"Erik!" A blonde crashed into his legs. Raven appeared at his feet, holding her arms up. Erik picked her up and looked around. Charles usually just waved to someone…where was her teacher?

"Excuse me?" A young and nervous looking woman fought her way through the crowd. "Ah, I'm not quite sure that you're authorized to take this child."

"Erik, thank you." Charles appeared at his shoulder. Raven shrieked and wiggled from Erik's arms into Charles's. "Erik this is Raven's teacher, Moira. Moira, Erik." Erik grunted and nodded.

For the record, he did not like the look Moira was giving Charles. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he didn't like it. At all.

"We'll get out of your hair now." Charles said hastily. He dragged Erik off. "Raven, we're going to go over to Erik's house today. His mother will be there, nobody else. Is that okay?"

Raven's eyes flickered to Erik before she nodded. Charles smiled reassuringly, and opened the umbrella.

* * *

><p>Erik was pretty sure that this was proof towards his being mentally challenged. Charles owned a car that was worth more than this whole apartment, why had he thought this was a good idea?<p>

"So, this is where I live." Erik tried not to imagine what impression Charles was getting from the dirty hallway, or the stains on the linoleum floors, or the scratched up doors. Raven was looking around with interest, her fingers bunched into Charles's coat. "Maman?"

Erik pushed open the door.

"Erik! _Can you fetch the plaster from under the sink?"_ His mother was frowning at the dripping hole in their ceiling. It was right above the rug too, and the pots under it were filling up fast. Erik winced-they couldn't afford to replace that rug if it was mildewed.

"Ja Maman." Erik gestured Charles in. "Maman, this is Charles, and his sister Raven. _He's here to help me study_."

His mother stopped glaring at the ceiling and blinked at Charles. Charles looked rather out of place in the apartment, with his expensive clothing and bright blonde sister. They were probably the only things in the apartment that weren't faded.

"Oh! Welcome to home." His mother beamed at Charles. Raven, who'd managed to wrap herself completely around Charles, tightened her grip. Charles smiled and stepped forward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lensherr." He took the hand offered to him in a rather passive grip. "I'm sorry, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no!" Erik's mother vigorously shook her head. "Erik can fix, won't take long at all."

"Yes ma'am." Charles stepped back. "I'm sorry about Raven, she's shy."

"Oh, fine! Fine!" Erik began to look for the plaster beneath the sink. "You're a friend of Erik's from school?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm helping him with a PreCalculus test." Charles's smile didn't flag. Erik hurried back into the living room, holding the bucket of plaster and a brush. Raven moved her head from Charles's chest enough to watch Erik climb onto a chair and begin working.

"Oh." Erik's mother nodded, glancing from him to Erik. Erik kept putting plaster on the leak, hoping he wasn't blushing. "You student of good?"

"Um, in a manner of speaking." Charles held onto Raven. "My grades are decent."

"He's probably the smartest person in school." Erik cut in. Charles's cheeks went pink.

"Gut, gut!" His mother beamed. "Perfect for study friend!" Erik slapped the final bit of plaster onto the ceiling and held his hand under it. No water came through.

"Right. Charles and I will just be studying then." Erik hopped off the chair. "Come on, my room is over here." Charles nodded rapidly and followed him. Erik felt his insides shrivel a tiny bit.

His bedroom wasn't exactly large. His bed (he now wished he'd bothered to make it sometime in the last week) took up half the room, with most of his clothing scattered on the floor and a somewhat broken lamp on a nightstand dominating the rest.

"Huh." Charles glanced around, then plopped down on the bed. "Raven, I've got your coloring book right here." Raven took the book and fished a pack of colored pencils from her bag. She leaned against Charles and began filling in shapes.

"Well." Erik sat down next to Charles, hoping his cheeks weren't as red as he thought they were. "This is my room."

"It's nice." Charles sounded sincere.

"It's not usually this messy-" Erik broke off as Charles began to laugh. "What?"

"Erik, I've seen the inside of your locker. You're _always_ this messy." Erik glared at him and gently whapped him with the textbook. Charles shrank back. "But I'm sure you're capable of neatness."

"Yeah, yeah." Erik opened the book.

"Do you have to fix things like that often?" Charles asked hesitantly. Erik nodded.

"Yeah, the building is messed up. I do it for the neighbors too, and everybody around here pays cash." Charles nodded slowly.

"Which you spend." Pausebeat. "On cigarettes."

"Do you have a _point?_" Erik glared. Charles shook his head rapidly.

"No. No point." Erik sighed. He was going to put that particular comment in the part of mind where he stashed the desire to glance at any guy's ass (It was labelled: "things tp address some time long, long, long in the future").

"Can you explain a few theorems again?"

* * *

><p>"Erik, Charles?" Erik nearly jumped out of his skin as his mother poked her head around the door. "Abendesson!"<p>

"Pardon?" Charles looked a little bit panicked.

"Dinner." Erik translated. "Do you want to stay? She probably made enough for all of us, Maman has a thing about guests."

"We can stay." Charles closed the book he'd balanced across his knees.

"Should you call your parents or something?" Erik eyed Raven. He wasn't quite sure what happened when small children didn't arrive home, but he was reasonably sure it had to do with police.

"They're out of town." Charles got up, dislodging Raven. She had colored in most of the pictures, and added several of her own outside the margins. Erik hoped that she wasn't finicky, his mother wasn't a very American cook.

"Oh. And you aren't throwing a wild party?" Erik thought that might improve Charles's standing in school a lot.

"And take away from time I could be _studying?_"

…Erik could not believe how lacking in sarcasm that was.

"Right. You know you're weird, right?" Erik waved Charles and Raven through the door to the kitchen. His mother had found an extra folding chair for Charles, and luckily they'd brought the all cutlery over from Germany. Charles gingerly sat down. Raven scrambled into his lap, as Erik sat down across the table.

"So I've been told. But I prefer driven." Erik sniffed the air. Smelled like Kasha and pasta. "Ma'am, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nien, nien." Erik mother put the dish on the table and passed Charles and Raven milk. Erik internally rolled his eyes. In his mother's mind, everyone who looked like they needed to be taller was given milk. He however, thought Charles looked perfectly fine petite.

"Thank you." Charles carefully took a sip. Erik wanted to point out that just because their fridge occasionally stopped working didn't mean he and his mother weren't careful about expiration dates. And by "he and his mother" he meant his mother, who once had to stop Erik from eating a can of five year old blueberry jam.

"No trouble. Nice to have company, Erik never bring home friends." She heaped a liberal amount of food on a plate and passed it to Charles. Erik shrugged apologetically. "Raven, much you want?"

"Um, about a fourth of mine." Charles put in. Raven had buried her face in Charles's shirt upon being addressed.

"Gut, gut. Is Kasha, Jewish dish. Erik like very much." Erik nodded and dug in. She'd given him less than Charles, despite the fact that he was half a foot taller. Stupid mothers and their logic… "Charles, what you like?"

"The food is excellent." Charles said diplomatically. Raven was eating too, displaying far better table manners than she had at the food court.

"She means like, hobbies." Erik said quickly.

"Oh. Well, um, I read quite a bit. I study." Charles smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, I don't really do much else."

"You thinking of college already?" His mother cocked her head. "Erik not think about college very much."

"Yes ma'am. I'm going to Oxford. And I'm sure Erik will be fine come admissions, he's very smart." Charles flashed Erik an inquisitive look. Erik shook his head-no, his mother had no idea how close he often came to failing.

"Ja, good plan." Erik's mother smiled at Raven. "You?"

"Raven." Charles said softly. He nudged her. Raven shook her head.

"Is fine. Erik very shy as a child too." Charles's eyebrows flew up. Erik sank down into his seat.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, ja." His mother chuckled in a rather evil way. "Erik used to hide behind me rather than go to sandbox. Refused to play in playground, wanted to run up and down street with no clothing." Charles choked out a laugh. "Finally wear clothing, happy to say."

"Erik, you've never told me this story." Charles's eyes twinkled at him. "You had an aversion to clothing?"

"Shut up."

"Erik, rude!" His mother scolded. "Ja, I have more stories. Erik love to stick fingers in sockets too. I try to explain that his diaper not have rubber in it, but he too busy going trying to destroy gate and fall down stairs."

"That's quite enough." Erik cut in. His mother was laughing in her head, he could tell. "I'd like to keep my tutor."

"If you say. You finish eating?" Raven's plate was bare. Charles had gotten through maybe half of the monstrous heap of food. Erik swapped their plates.

"No, Maman." She made a tutting sound.

"No, I'm done, it's fine." Charles said in a worried tone. "He can have it."

"If you say. Boys have such strange appetites." Raven's eyes darted up to his mother's. Ms. Lensherr gave her a little smile. "Not hungry at all then dying for food?"

"Uh-huh." Raven mumbled. Under the table, Charles squeezed her hand.

"What about your parents, they have same complaints?" Charles shrugged.

"Sometimes. Mother is away often."

"Travel for work?" Charles looked very uncomfortable.

"She doesn't really work…it's more for recreational purposes."

"Right, I'm done." Erik pushed the plate away. He was pretty sure that was the record for clearing off a plate. "Charles, you want to go over the last chapter?"

"Sure." Charles got to his feet. "I'm sorry ma'am, would you like me to do anything?"

"Nein, nein, I have taken care of." Right. Erik was going to be doing the dishes as soon as Charles left. His mother gestured to the living room. "Why you not study here, not be cooped up?"

"We can do that." Charles said immediately. Erik grunted. They could both fit on the couch, probably. "I'll go get the book, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure." Erik took a few steps to the couch and began to clear magazines off it. He _liked_ being alone in his room. Not having his mother scrutinizing them. Not that there was anything about him and Charles that wasn't…he didn't know where his train of thought was going.

"Found the book." Charles sat down on the couch, crossing his legs. Raven settled in his lap, as always. Erik sighed and dumped next to them, peering at the book upside down. Charles flipped it. "Don't try to read it upside down Erik, you're going to melt down brain cells."

"Thanks." They began to discuss math, and Erik tried to ignore the prickling feeling of his mother's eyes.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for coming over. There's no longer any excuse for me to fail that stupid test." Erik was walking Charles down to the car, Raven draped across one of his shoulders. Erik didn't even want to know what would happen if Charles tried to walk around this neighborhood by himself.<p>

"Except sleep deprivation." Charles sent Erik a severe look. "Go upstairs and sleep."

"If you insist." Erik put his hands in his pockets.

"Statistically speaking, it's one of the most important steps in studying." Charles smiled at him.

"That's something I _can_ do well. Goodnight." Erik watched Charles fasten Raven into the seat of the car and get in himself, then drive away.

* * *

><p>"<em>So, do you like Charles<em>?" Erik asked. His mother slowly nodded.

"_A very polite boy. Though he apologized quite often_." Erik frowned.

"_I guess he does that_."

**A/N: The Patriots won! *dancing around tiny secluded room in attic* So I post this in celebration, and I MISSED the game to edit this. I MISSED the fail kick. Grrrrrr. Um, sorry if there are any not-Patriots fans among you readers. But I'm suuuper happy. Btdubs, review?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: *Sobs* I totally failed a chemistry test yesterday after studying for hours. But I did well on the math test, and the French quiz, and now it's winter vacation. YES.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the massive franchise which is MARVEL. **

Erik could hear the ticks of the clock. They seemed like the loudest thing in the world-and he couldn't bring himself to look up and see what the actual time was. His study ended at 10:33, and there was no way in hell Mr. Vega would give him extra time if he hadn't finished by then.

Another minute clicked by. Erik scribbled down another answer. He was going to fail, he could tell, and then he'd flunk out. Great. Fucking great. Erik glared at the paper as he realized that 63 and 46 _didn't_ make 100 (Thank God Charles had pounded "Double-Check your calculations!" into his head) and began to rewrite a string of equations.

The bell rang when Erik was on the last problem.

"Your test, Mr. Lensherr." He grimly wrote down the first number that popped into his head and handed over the test. Mr. Vega glanced over it, a sardonic smile pulling at his lips. "I suggest you get to your next class, and pray."

"Yes sir." Erik ground out. He tossed his backpack over his shoulder and ploughed his way down the hallway, glaring at a few hapless freshmen. The sight of them cowering made him feel a bit better.

Not as good however, as a talk with Charles would probably make him feel-and there was his tutor at his locker, loading up books as per usual.

"Charles!" Erik hurried over. Charles looked up with a rather surprised look on his face.

"Um, hello?"

"I took the test, and I don't remember covering half of that shit in class."

"Well, obviously. You sleep in precalc." Charles grinned at him. "I'm sure you did fine. You're far more intelligent than people give you credit for."

"Thanks." Erik rolled his eyes. "You're much better at giving pep talks than post-test encouragement."

"Who needs encouragement when you've already aced it?" Charles jammed a textbook into his backpack. "I hate to run, but the AP Physics lab is on the other side of the building and if Mr. Philips catches me late _again_ he might actually start taking points off my average."

"Yeah, go on." Erik waved a hand at Charles. "Abandon me."

"4.5 GPA versus coddling my protégé…" Charles sighed deeply. "GPA wins. See you after school."

"See you." Erik restrained himself from watching Charles's ass and went to his locker.

"Erik." Emma leaned against the locker next to him. Erik continued to look for his notes on the French Revolution. "You know, that's what I like about you Erik, you don't pander."

"Is there something you want?" Erik really hoped this wasn't an attempt to recruit him to a playful session of lock the handicapped kid in a bathroom. He'd never liked that to begin with, and hanging around Charles had robbed it of whatever appeal it once had.

"Dinner."

"Pardon?" Emma's eyes glinted at him in a predatory fashion.

"We're going out tomorrow." Erik blinked. "Dinner and a movie."

"Uh." Erik was pretty sure that 98 percent of the guys at Lincoln would kill to be in this position. "Why?"

"That's why." Emma smiled. "After sitting through countless meals of young men slobbering and gibbering, unable to tear their eyes from my chest, it occurred to me that I needed to reevaluate my options. And when I went through my list of men I haven't already tried and are in my league, you were it."

"Joy." Erik finally found the binder. "You're aware I don't have a car?"

"I do." Emma grinned, and Erik could swear he saw fangs. "This is going to be _fun._ I haven't seen someone play hard to get since middle-school." Erik sort of stared as she strode down the hallway, hips swaying.

"Dude." Azazel had, as he often did, appeared out of nowhere. "You need to teach me how to live."

"Whatever." Erik fought the urge to slam his head against the lockers. _Why_ did Emma demand that he go out with her? He didn't have the money for that!

"You might show some enthusiasm." Janos grumbled. "Anyone here would kill to get a piece of that ass. Except the Professor, but he's a fairy."

"Of course I'm thrilled." Erik snapped. He was. The hottest girl in the entire school, and probably the town, just started propositioning him, he'd be insane not to be happy. "I think she likes it when people don't flip out."

* * *

><p>"You've got <em>what?<em>" Charles stared at him. "Congratulations. You deserve a day off."

"I guess. I have no idea why she decided this had to happen." Erik muttered. Charles chuckled.

"Well, you should go home and psyche yourself up." Charles walked toward his car. "Besides, no need to study tonight, you just took that big test. You can relax and recuperate for a few days."

"Really?" Erik hurried after Charles, who had already tossed his books in the backseat of his car.

"Of course. A date with Emma Frost is not something you should go into unprepared, and I am the last person who would be able to help you with that." Charles got into the front seat. "I'll tell Raven you said hello."

"I…what?" Erik wondered if this entire day was destined to be one enormous block of confusion.

* * *

><p>Erik ended up going home. The apartment was empty. Erik sighed and looked around. Nothing to do.<p>

He could always do homework…

Three hours later, and Erik not only felt like a nerd, but was bored again. He paced for awhile. He ate all the leftovers from the fridge. He wandered around and checked to make sure all of the leaks were still plugged up.

Erik glared around the apartment. He needed to do _something_.

Cleaning it was then. Erik mopped the kitchen floor, and vacuumed the rugs, and beat the dust out of the sofa cushions. He was considering wiping down the walls or actually doing laundry when keys clinked in the lock.

"It's open." He called over his shoulder.

"Oh…oh _my_." His mother walked in. Her eyes traveled over the floors, the sofa, the kitchen and finally back to Erik. "What…"

"I was bored." Erik shrugged. His mother laughed out loud.

"Thank you, dear. No activities with Charles today?" She put a grocery bag on their table. Erik sniffed at it. "Paws off, that's dinner."

"I had a test today, Charles said I should take a day off to rest and recuperate." Erik glared at the walls. They were really very dirty. "What kind of cleanser do we use to wipe down the walls?"

"_Erik._" His mother said firmly. "Relax. You don't have to clean the apartment just because you don't have anything else to do. Read a book."

"Yes ." Erik thought. "I don't have a book."

"Idiot boy." She looked at him fondly. "I brought a load over from Germany, and I have a library card."

"You do?" His mother disappeared into her room and reemerged with an armload of books. "Oh."

"Sit down and read." She pushed him onto the couch. "I'm making dinner. You can give me a report of what you've read when I finish."

"You make it sound like schoolwork." Erik grumbled.

"Of course it's not schoolwork, I don't force you to dissect the text." She made a tutting sound. Erik's mother was of the opinion that nothing ruined good books like English teachers. "Now go relax."

"Yes Mama."

* * *

><p>"Erik, I'm doing laundry." His mother called from in her room. "Do you have anything that needs washed?"<p>

Erik thought. Last he checked, all of his clothing at least smelled decent.

"Is my nice turtleneck clean?"

"How should I know? Check yourself!" Erik groaned and got off the couch. He began to sort through the piles of clothing in his closet, trying to remember what made this turtleneck better than his other ones. His mother appeared in the doorway with a basket of her own clothing. "What do you need it for?"

"Date." Erik said shortly.

"You have a _date?_" His mother dropped the basket and clapped her hands. "That's wonderful!"

"Can I just find the stupid shirt?"

"Erik, you really should dress up."

"It's dinner and a movie, Mom." Erik rubbed his forehead. Crap, how much were movie tickets these days? Expensive. "Chill."

"Who are you going with?" His mother fished the shirt out from the top right hand corner of the closet and tossed it into the basket.

"Emma Frost. You don't know her."

"Hmmm." His mother eyed him. "Well, I'm sure she's a sweet girl."

Erik snorted. Right. The day Emma became "sweet" was the day Victor started attending Pride marches.

"Here." Erik stared as his mother fished out her wallet and passed him a fifty.

"Mama! I can't…" She raised her eyebrows. Erik shut up.

"I'll not have you wasting your savings. I like to think of as an investment towards grandchildren." Erik choked. His mother winked at him. "I'll get this cleaned off, you get some sleep. Your curfew is eleven!"

"I, um, thank you?" His mother disappeared into the basement of the building.

* * *

><p>"So, Erik." Emma flicked her eyes over him, smirking. Erik raised his eyebrows and ignoring Janos and Azazel, who were leering on the other side of the hallway. "Nice shirt. Very classy."<p>

"Nice…outfit." Erik didn't know clothing came that tight. Emma tossed her head.

"We're going to a movie." Emma waggled a pair of car keys at him. "Come on, if we stand here too long the rumor mill will get a clue."

"Oh, and that'd be a tragedy for you." Erik followed her down the hallway. "Scuse me." he grunted, as one of the freshmen bumped his shoulder.

"Pardon?" Emma glanced back.

"Politeness. It exists." She laughed.

"Only for the lessers." Erik stepped forward and held open the door for her. Emma smiled. "A gentleman. How…unexpected."

Crap. Charles was rubbing off on him.

"If you'd prefer Victor, I'm sure that could be arranged." Erik whistled when he saw the car. White, and convertible, and sporty. And Emma called Charles a spoiled brat? "Nice car."

"A gift from my parents. I paid half." Emma sniffed. "Just in case the words spoiled brat crossed your mind."

"Of course not." Erik lied.

"I could become quite fond of you." Emma got into the car, somehow managing to not flash her underwear. Erik got in the other side, trying to ignore the envy coming off the football team. "Have a movie preference?"

"You pick." Emma smirked and put on sunglasses.

"I'm thinking vampires." Erik's heart sank. God, please no, anything but that… "Bloodsport Slaughter 3 work for you? The last guy I took to see it had to be escorted from the theater."

"I'll manage. Are there plot details that need to be explained?"

"Who needs plot when there's nudity and explosions?" Emma snickered. "Just keep your head down, I'll take care of the rating." Erik raised an eyebrow. Emma laughed merrily. "I have more than enough experience at getting into movies."

"So I gather." Erik followed her in.

"Therefore, I'll be paying." Emma arched her back and got out of the car. Erik glanced over the movie theater. It wasn't particularly crowded. Or clean. "So, if you don't mind…go hang about on the sidelines."

"If you insist." Erik watched him vague interest as Emma cut a line of people, flirted with a pimply college student, and walked back to him waving a couple of tickets. "I'm impressed."

"Males are so easily swayed." Emma sighed. "Come on, we'll miss the previews, and I rather enjoy mocking them."

* * *

><p>What did people <em>do<em> on dates? Erik kept his eyes focused on the people being blown up.

"Not nauseous yet?" Emma breathed in his ear. Erik just barely kept himself from jumping.

"I'm waiting for someone to rip his intestines out and eat them. Then it'll be interesting." Emma giggled.

"What, so you're bored?"

"Not at all. This is a fascinating plotline." Erik wondered where his hands were supposed to be. Was it a douche move to put an arm around her shoulder? Hopefully, seeing as he didn't particularly want to, but he heard stories about what happened in theaters.

Most of those were actually about a freshman girl he didn't know, not Emma, but he'd heard things about Emma too. Emma leaned forward to tie a shoe. Erik wondered if the cleavage exposure was intentional.

"Hmm. Interesting." Emma leaned back and put her feet on the seat in front of them. "That usually works."

"Oh." Erik guessed he was supposed to respond to that somehow. "Nice choice in movie."

"I've never seen the full thing." Emma propped her face on her chin. "Twenty says the tall guy gets staked and the girl dies naked."

"Not a bet I'd take." Emma's prediction came partially true. Erik personally thought it would have been funnier if the tall guy was staked, but holy water produced an interesting sizzling effect. The girl however, to the surprise of no one, died while naked.

* * *

><p>"Well, I liked it." Emma said as they walked out of the theater.<p>

"The ending was anticlimactic." Erik grumbled. "And how predictable was the villain?"

"You stupid people who watch for plot." Emma tsked. "Though I'll concede the villain-honestly, he had no idea of how to keep his henchmen in line."

"I suppose you would know."

"Excuse me, did you just compare me to a bald man with a large and curling mustache and badly trimmed goatee?" Emma asked. "You really do suck at this."

"He ran a large and successful empire. Consider it a compliment."

"Come on, you're buying me dinner." Emma nodded towards a pizza parlor. Erik could feel the relief of his mother's savings not going down the toilet. Even if this place was loud and not exactly to his tastes. "One slice, mozzarella cheese, and send it back if it's two greasy. As a drink I'll take a no-whip low fat no foam sugar-free mocha."

"How the hell am I supposed to remember that?" Emma rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you weren't so refreshing, you would have already been kicked to the curb." Emma tossed her head and stalked up to the counter. "What kind of pizza do you want?"

"Plain." Emma sniffed.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Emma glared down at the two pieces of pizza. "Um, excuse me? Spot off some grease, then maybe I'll consider paying for this crap."

Erik stepped up to the counter next to her and wondered how much he should overtip the poor server.

Oh, God. He was acting like Charles again.

* * *

><p>Erik walked out of the pizza place with Emma wondering if he was allowed to go home yet. As interesting as spending time with someone who was delightfully evil was, he couldn't exactly say that was his ideal date.<p>

"Well, that was quite interesting." Emma commented. "Unfortunately, I have a facial regime to go through, and so I'll be leaving you here."

"Fine. I suppose I'm meant to thank you for the movie? It was very entertaining."

"I can think of a few ways you could do that." Emma murmured. Erik made a surprised noise as Emma wrapped an arm around his neck and yanked him forward. Crap, were they about to-

So, this was what kissing the Queen was like. He had to say, it wasn't any better than the very few girls back in Germany, and he'd always thought they were terrible kissers. Not that Emma was terrible. Very _demanding_ yes, and not exactly pleasant, but she was probably very good at this.

Erik put his hands on her waist. Emma rolled her hips and Erik really wasn't much turned on.

Emma broke away. "You're not half bad."

"Thanks." Erik fought the urge to wipe his mouth.

"You're salvageable. We're dating." When the hell did that happen?

* * *

><p>"So, how did your date go?" Erik jumped. Did his mother <em>have<em> to be a ninja? She raised her eyebrows.

"Fine. I've got a girlfriend." His mother's eyebrows raised even higher.

"Why Erik, that's wonderful."

"I'm going to bed." Erik dumped himself onto his bed and glared at the pile of homework waiting for him.

**A/N: The plot thickens. And Erik and his Mom are speaking German if you use your Imagination. I just thought that finding a wonderful reviewer to translate _that_ much German would be tough and since not everyone speaks German...thus use imagination. Also, review? Please?**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: *waves* Hiiii guys/girls. Long time no see? Sorry. Life has a tendency to trump fan fiction. (but I'm blowing off studying for a Geometry test to talk to y'all, so I at least get some internet points.)**

**I love your reviews. Seriously. I adore you all, even if I don't have any idea who you actually are. (and I love all you people who just story alert and/or fave. Anything is appreciated)**

**Disclaimer: Stiiill don't own MARVEL. **

"Good morning, boyfriend." Erik tipped his head down and kissed Emma. Azazel sighed.

"Really, Ems? Of all of us who would gladly crawl at your feet, you go after that one?" Emma broke away from Erik and tossed her hair.

"It's an issue of taste, and don't call me Ems." Her eyes flitted over the hall. Erik followed the look. The pack of freshmen, the ecology classroom, Charles at his locker… "Whoa. Did you guys see Xavier?"

"What the?." Erik did a doubletake. A massive bruise stretched over the side of Charles's face, and he seemed to be moving stiffly.

"Think someone finally punched the nerd out?" Janos asked. He raised his voice. "Hey loser, did someone finally try to fix your face?"

"Hmm?" Charles turned to them. "Oh no, I fell down some stairs."

"Cool stairs." Azazel said. Erik frowned at Charles. The boy shrugged.

"That's debatable. Excuse me, I have to get to homeroom…" Charles hurried down the hallway with his head down, eyes averted. Erik tried to figure out if he was limping. He disappeared around a corner.

"Somebody should give those stairs an award, I've wanted to punch that faggot for years." Janos grumbled. "Anyway, Az - we've got extra practice after school today. The paper wants pictures."

"We still have a school newspaper?" Erik asked. Emma leaned against the lockers and looked bored.

"Apparently." Janos shrugged. "I guess Principal Shaw decided that the stripper story wasn't so bad."

"That story was the best thing our paper has ever printed." Azazel said with a grin. "I'll go tell Vic. Erik, you coming? Coach still wants you on the team."

"Nah." Erik had seen the forms, and his mother had better things to spend money on than an overpriced uniform.

"There's probably extra cheer practice." Emma sighed and examined her nails. "No date tonight Erik."

"I'll try to contain my disappointment." Emma snickered.

"I have _such_ a loving boyfriend. Az, Janos, come along." Emma waved a hand.

"Don't call me Az." Azazel grumbled as he followed her down the hallway. Erik rolled his eyes and reminded himself that these people were his friends for a reason. He didn't remember exactly what the reason _was_, but surely they had redeeming characteristics.

"Do you have a moment?" Erik blinked down at the freshman. She was petite, dark haired and had toffee colored skin. And, according to a rumor confirmed by the girl's locker room, had dragon wings tattooed on her back that stretched all the way down her shoulders.

"Angel Salvadore, right?" Also, an unconfirmed rumor said she worked at a strip club.

"School paper. Since when are you dating her?"

"A few days, and since when do you work for the paper?" Last Erik checked, the paper was shut down for printing the story that claimed Angel was a stripper. It had contained some highly incriminating photos that could still be found in the boy's locker room.

"Someone has to keep the standards up." Angel tossed her hair. "So, details?"

"No." A look of grudging admiration flickered through her eyes.

"Fine. I'll find something else to put in the gossip column." Erik frowned.

"Hey - do you know what's up with Charles Xavier?" Angel raised her eyebrows and seemed to go through a mental roster.

"Gay, no boyfriend, takes a bunch of AP classes."

"I meant his face."

"I have no idea. As far as I know, he fell down some stairs." Angel flicked dust off her fingernails. "Is there a reason you care?"

"Kid tutors me." Erik snapped. "Aren't the freshman homerooms on the other side of the building?"

"I'm going." Angel turned and walked off, the sway in her hips nearly comparable to Emma's. Erik tried to ignore the incredibly bad feeling he was getting.

* * *

><p>"And if you would all turn to page 42, you'll find a map of the lunar cycle. Compare it to the diagram of the entire solar system on pg 58." Ms. Munroe sketched a chart on the board. "Similarities and differences!"<p>

Erik snuck a glance back. Charles was, as far as he could tell, taking notes. And looking paler than he had one bell ago.

"Ms. Munroe?" Charles raised his hand. His voice sounded a bit shakier as well.

"Yes?"

"M-may I go to the restroom? I don't feel well…"

"Yes, of course dear." Charles bolted from his seat, a hand over his mouth. Ms. Munroe looked faintly alarmed. Erik scrambled to his feet.

"I'm going to make sure he's okay."

"Yes, go ahead." Ms. Munroe waved him out.

The bathrooms, luckily, weren't far. Erik hurried in and was greeted by the sound of vomiting.

"Charles?" The sound stopped. "You alright?"

"Not entirely, no." Erik knocked on the only closed stall door.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, just be careful…" Erik opened the door as another wave of nausea hit, and Charles threw up again. "Sorry."

"Wow." Erik crouched next to him and rubbed his back, ignoring the little prickling feeling that came from the cramped quarters. It was probably just his legs falling asleep. "Why the hell did you come into school?"

"I'm fine." Charles muttered. He wiped his mouth. "Apart from you know, sitting on a rather unsanitary bathroom floor and missing the lesson."

"Screw the lesson." Erik shook his head. "You need fluids."

"Fluids?" Charles shot him an amused look.

"Aren't sick people supposed to drink orange juice?" He rubbed Charles's back.

"No, not just after throwing up." Charles's eyes suddenly got bigger. "You might want to back off."

Erik winced as the remaining contents of Charles's stomach hurled into the toilet. There wasn't much.

"Here." Erik got to his feet and wet a paper towel. He passed it to Charles. "Wipe it across your mouth, it helps."

"You're not bad at this." Charles coughed and wiped his mouth.

"I've seen Janos looking after Azazel a few hundred times." Charles's cheeks colored. "Come on, I'm taking you to the nurse."

"I'm fine!" Charles got up and limped over to the sinks. He splashed water on his face.

"Dude, you just ran out of class to throw up. That is not _fine._" Erik grabbed Charles's arm. "Come on."

"Erik!" Erik dragged Charles out of the bathroom, ignoring his protests. "I'm fine, really! I just tripped, it's not a big deal! I don't need to be examined!" Erik was a lot bigger than Charles. "Erik!"

"Nurse Grey?" The resident nurse was sitting at her desk flipping through a medical magazine. Charles made one last attempt to flee. "Charles was throwing up. And he fell down some stairs."

"_Erik_." Charles hissed. "Ms. Grey, I'm really fine, just a bit nauseous."

"You're the first student I've ever had who claimed they _weren't _sick." She said dryly. "Do you have a pass from your teacher?"

"No, should I go get one?"

"He got permission to leave before he hurled on the floor." Erik cut in. "Ms. Munroe will back me up."

"Sure. Come on in and sit down on the couch." Charles nervously perched himself on the paper sheet covering the couch. Erik leaned against the doorway. "You said you fell down the stairs?"

"At home." Charles said quietly. "It was an accident."

"I would think so." Nurse Grey frowned and shone a light on his pupil's. "Did you hit your head?"

"Not hard." Charles muttered.

"Well, it was hard enough to give you a mild concussion." She sighed. "Honestly, what were you thinking, coming to school? You should be at home in bed."

"I didn't want to miss anything." Charles shivered. "Do I have to go home?"

"Yes." Nurse Grey sighed. "Can your parents pick you up?"

"They're working." Charles stared at the floor. "I drove to school."

"You certainly can't drive home with a concussion." Erik stepped forward.

"I'll drive him." Charles blinked. "I don't have any tests today."

"What was your name again?"

"Erik Lensherr." Nurse Grey's eyebrows flew up.

"Right. Well…"

"In fact, I have a stomachache too." Erik deadpanned. "I really must leave."

"Fine. If it'll keep you from driving with a concussion, I'll write the pass." Nurse Grey rolled her eyes. Erik figured that she had balanced out human safety versus keeping him in school and decided that safety was more important. "Call your parents."

Erik was glad it was Thursday. His mother would be home right now. He opened his phone and dialed.

"_Erik, what's wrong_?" Erik sighed. He could just explain later…

"I'm sick, I need your permission to go home."

"_Uh huh_." She sounded politely skeptic.

"Please? I can explain later." She sighed.

"_Fine_." Erik handed his cellphone over to the nurse. Nurse Grey listened and nodded a few times, smiling slightly.

"Her English isn't perfect, sorry." He apologized.

"Thank you Ms. Lensherr. Don't worry about it." Nurse Grey handed him his phone and turned to Charles, who was bent over an Iphone looking worried. He put a hand over the lower half and flashed them both a strained smile.

"Just a second Ms. Grey. No, I really do need to speak to her. I told you, I'm her _son_." Charles's tone was clipped. "No, it will not wait." He waited, fingers tapping. "Mother? I need to go home, and the nurse needs you to give me permission. Okay."

"Mrs. Xavier?" Nurse Grey took the phone. Erik raised his eyebrows at Charles. Charles shrugged. "Thank you." She handed the phone back to Charles and began entering something into the computer. "Who are your homeroom teachers?"

"Ms. Munroe for me." Charles said.

"Kellner." Erik said shortly.

"I'll get the passes. Charles, you sit there and don't move while I get you some fluids." Erik smirked at Charles. "Do either of you need things from your lockers?" Erik shook his head. Charles shrugged. "Good. Erik, If you could tell Ms. Munroe that I'm sending Charles and you home, and fetch your books, it would be a great help."

"Sure." Erik left, taking one last glance at Charles. _Only_ Charles would still go to school with a concussion, the idiot. He headed for Ms. Munroe's room. The class was still working on the solar system, if not very enthusiastically.

"Ah, Erik." Ms. Munroe looked at the class. "You people, talk amongst yourselves about the planets." She stepped out into the hallway. "So?"

"Charles has a concussion." She rubbed her head.

"And he came to school." Erik shrugged. "Please tell me his parents are picking him up."

"He said they were working. I volunteered to drive him home." Ms. Munroe smiled slightly. "Um, is there homework or anything?"

"Problems 24 though 33 on page 367. Tell Charles I'll make sure he's excused." Ms. Munroe sighed. Then she brightened. "Oh, and I've been meaning to tell you that your average has gone up to a B."

"It did?" Erik sort of blinked. When the hell did that happen?

"You did very well on our last couple of assignments." Ms. Munroe smiled the weird little half smile again. "I assume Charles has been helping you?"

"Um, yeah. Nurse Grey told me to get our stuff?"

"By all means."

* * *

><p>"You just got out of class for the whole day, quit looking so worried." Erik grumbled. Charles slid into the passenger seat rubbing his temples. "I swear, I'm not going to crash your car."<p>

"I hope not. I'm just trying to remember Raven's school's policy for early pick-up…" Charles sighed. "And I have a headache."

"She didn't fall down the stairs too did she?"

"Of course not!" Charles looked alarmed. "No, but if I can't drive then I need to pick her up now, while I have a chauffer."

"Fine." Erik was really starting to wonder where the hell Charles's parents were. He changed route to go toward Raven's school. "Where do you live anyway?"

"Edge of town. I'll give you directions as soon as we've got Raven." Erik turned into the parking lot. Charles pushed himself out of the car, looking tired. "Grab my wallet, would you? It's in my backpack."

"Need ID?" Charles nodded. Erik fished the wallet out, and restrained the desire to look through it. "I don't think I've ever seen the office of an American elementary school."

"It's far more intimidating as the high school one." Charles led him into the building, with none of his usual spring in his step. Erik followed, noting how everything seemed to be short.

"Hey." Charles stopped in front of a secretary's desk. Erik fought the urge to laugh when the woman did a double take at the enormous bruise on his face. "I'm Charles Xavier, here to pick up Raven Xavier?"

"Ah." The secretary took the driver's license he held out and checked it. "Is there a problem?"

"Um, family stuff." Charles muttered.

"Well, I hope everything is okay." The woman pressed an intercom button. "Ms. McTaggert, will you please send Raven to the office? Her brother is here to pick her up early."

"Thank you." Charles said softly. Erik frowned and touched his arm. "I'm fine Erik, really."

"Charles?" Ms. McTaggert appeared with Raven, holding a backpack and a coat. Raven's eyes instantly brightened.

"Erik!" She rushed forward and hopped into his arms. Erik swept her up and into a piggy-back position. "Why are we going home early?"

"Charles is sick." Erik informed her. Raven frowned and scrutinized her brother. Charles was exchanging pleasantries with McTaggert. Erik fought down the urge to glare. "Charles, we should get going?"

"Of course. It was nice seeing you Moira." Erik scowled. Since when was Charles on first name basis with the cougar kindergarten teacher? At least Charles was gay. That was comforting.

"What do you look so grumpy for?" Raven wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Nothing." Erik took Raven's bag from Charles. "You don't mind being taken out of school early?"

"I have to make sure that Charles is okay." Raven said determinedly.

"Agreed." Raven wriggled off him and climbed into the car. Erik got into the front seat. "Charles, which way?"

"Left." Erik didn't focus much on where they were going for the ride - he was a bit distracted by the niceness of the car. Also by trying to keep an eye on Charles to make sure he didn't look like he was going to be sick again, because every guy he knew would rather die than throw up in a car this nice.

So it didn't strike him where they were until Charles said. "Right, stop here."

Erik got out and did a doubletake. He knew Charles was rich. Everyone knew that.

He still didn't expect a freaking _castle_.

"Um…" Erik kept staring. That building was three times as big as their school. "How…"

"It's my ancestral home, okay?" Charles sighed and slammed the car door shut, going to get Raven out of the car seat. "Leave the keys in, I'll tell the butler to park it later."

"_Butler?"_

"Come on, Raven. We'll take a side door in." Erik tried to shut his mouth as Charles walked around the corner of the building. On this side were enormous fountains and a sloping estate. A freaking _estate._

"Wait up." Erik hurried after them and grabbed Charles's bag. "I don't want you carrying a bunch of heavy books."

"Thanks." Charles stepped up to a door (one still more ornate than the lobby to Erik's building) and fished a key out of his pocket. "My room is pretty close to here."

"Right." Erik could feel his shoes sink into the carpet as they entered. Charles padded down the hallway, Raven a few steps behind.

"Just up these stairs." Charles turned to look at Erik as he gestured up a flight of stairs. He stumbled, arms flailing out and failing to catch the banister. Erik took two enormous steps and grabbed him around the waist. Charles went bright red. "E-Erik, I'm fine."

Erik grunted. It was a skill he had picked up from the jocks.

"A-anyway, this way." Charles continued up the stairs without more stumbling. After walking up two stories, they got to a hallway and yet another set of ornate doors. Charles looked faintly embarrassed. "This is my room."

He opened the doors to a slightly more moderate room. The bed still as wide across as Erik's entire bedroom, and the covers were probably made of Persian silk, but nothing advertised fabulous wealth.

"Erik!" Raven bounced onto the bed. "Wanna jump?"

"Um." Erik flashed Charles an inquiring look.

"Go ahead. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself. And toss the bags thereish." Charles waved a hand at the desk by the window. The window was as big as the table Erik ate dinner on. "I'm going to take some painkillers."

Charles walked through the door Erik thought was to a closet and shut the door. So, Charles had a private bathroom connected to his room. That must be handy…Erik shook his head rapidly.

"Erik!" Raven bounced into the air, her curls flying. "Aren't you going to jump?"

What the hell. Erik took a flying leap and landed on the bed. He flew into the air, hearing Raven laugh hysterically. Wow. He'd forgotten how much fun jumping on a bed was.

"Isn't it fun?" Raven giggled. Erik nodded and glanced around the room. There wasn't much else there - a closet, a few piles of books, a desk with an expensive looking computer on it.

"Right." Charles walked out of the bathroom looking tired. Erik had never noticed that he had bags beneath his eyes; usually they were hidden under the cheerful smile. "So, this would be my room."

"Nice place." Expensive place.

"Thanks. Come on, I'll show you the study. There's a few books I want to grab if I have to stay at home for a day." Raven's eyes lit up.

"Can I have a story?"

"Sure, darling." Charles started down the hallway, Raven pattering behind. Erik counted the randomly placed statues. He didn't think the museum held half the stuff this place must have. "The study is just down here."

Erik walked through a doorway, and understood why there only a few stacks of books in Charles's room. This room was full of them - shelves up to the ceiling, with books crammed in them and in piles on the floor.

"Story!" Raven leapt for a shelf. Charles delicately sat down on a couch and rubbed his head.

"Advil not kicking in?" Erik asked. Charles smiled in a tired sort of way.

"I'm afraid not. I'll have to find something stronger…" Charles shook his head slightly then winced. "Raven, be careful."

"Yes Charles." Raven said, speaking in the tone of someone who has heard the same instructions a million times and still has no intention of following them. She wedged a foot between a set of the Lord of the Rings and the shelf above them, and vaulted up.

"Erik, would you mind getting whatever she's reaching for?" Charles asked. He closed his eyes. "I would, but the thought of getting up is just really unappealing at the moment."

"Sure." Erik headed over to Raven and plucked an enormous book of fairytales off the shelf. It was just out of her reach. Erik privately wondered who had come up with the idea of putting _her_ book just out of her reach. "Was this what you wanted?"

"Yes!" Raven grinned up at him and clutched the book. It probably weighed half what she did. The cover was beautifully gilded and featured a picture of a band of handsome knights standing around a roaring dragon, while maidens with flowing gowns stood around. "Thank you E-rik."

"Welcome." He muttered. Raven bounced over to the couch and sat down, flipping through the heavy pages. With an uneasy look around, Erik sat down with them. It had only just occurred to him that he didn't actually have a means of transport home.

"Can you read to me?" Raven asked. She looked at him, eyes grown to bambi-esque proportions. Erik sighed and inched closer.

"Sure. What's your favorite story?" Raven flipped through the stories to one with a picture of a dragon, and a maid tied to a pole outside it's cave. "Why do you like this one?"

"Because the dragon dies." Raven said darkly. Erik eyed Charles, who shrugged.

"Right. Once there was a very old man, who had a daughter…" Erik got almost as far as the ball before he realized that Raven was asleep, her head cushioned on his chest. Charles chuckled.

"I think I've read to her so many times before bed it triggers an automatic reaction." Charles said. Erik smiled at her fondly.

"I guess. Did she not sleep much last night?"

"Yeah." Charles glanced away. He took out his wallet. "Here, let me get you cab fare. The nearest bus stop is over a mile from here."

"You really don't have too…" Charles rolled his eyes.

"If it bothers you that much, you can pay me back. It's not like I need the money." There was a trace of bitterness in the words. Charles pressed a couple of twenties on Erik and took out a cell phone. "Could you maybe call me tomorrow and tell me what the homework is?"

"I'll bring it over." Erik promised. He held out a hand for Charles's cellphone. "But seriously, give me your number anyway. It's kind of absurd that I don't have it."

"Sure." Charles blushed and took Erik's phone, tapping his number in. Erik took it back, feeling a little bit self conscious. "I'll walk you to the door, it's really easy to get lost here."

"Don't get up." Erik lifted Raven's head and transferred it to Charles's shoulder. "You have a concussion, you idiot. I can remember how to go back the way we came." Charles frowned but lay back, as Raven settled into a more comfortable position. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Erik left.

**A/N: There is no name for Raven's favorite fairy tale because I couldn't find a fairytale which is creature vs. prince/princess and creature dies. No, seriously, I couldn't. I'm not sure if I'm having a blonde moment or if there actually somehow isn't one out there.**

**Review? Pleease?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you all for reviews. Seriously, you are amazing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. **

"Here." Ms. Munroe handed over a binder. "I took the liberty of asking around the teacher's lounge, and I got all the homework for all of Charles's classes." Erik eyed the binder and reflected on what bullshit the "good teachers don't play favorites" line was.

"Thanks." Ms. Munroe nodded.

"It's my pleasure. Tell him that we…" She sort of glanced around the classroom, and Erik remembered that Ms. Munroe was totally with it. "Well, at least that _I_ hope he's feeling better."

"I will." Erik shoved the binder into his backpack, feeling like a nerd. "He'll probably be back in school Monday."

"Most likely." Ms. Munroe chuckled. "Have a nice weekend, Erik."

"You too." Erik wondered what teachers did on weekends. Probably grade papers. He walked out into the halls, submerging himself into the wild happiness that gripped teenagers when the weekend beckoned.

"Boyfriend." Emma stepped in front of him. "Party at my house tonight. You want to go straight from school and help me grab the beer?"

"I've got stuff to do, I'll stop by later." Great. One of Emma's super popular, exclusive, and highly alcoholic parties. What incredible fun watching Azazel get drunk and Janos make sure he didn't drown in the pool while the girls catcalled would be.

"What sort of stuff?" Emma looked annoyed.

"Give Charles his homework." She stared at him.

"Excuse me, did you just say that you were blowing me off to give the _faggot_ his homework?" Emma asked incredulously. Though not loudly, thank God.

"Really?" Azazel rolled his eyes. Erik, once again, wondered how the hell he could appear out of nowhere and somehow still be clued into the conversation. "Are you just insane, or what?"

"Look, I owe him, alright?" Erik glared at them and began pulling books out of his locker. "The guy made sure I didn't fail a bunch of classes."

"Dudes, party on tonight?" Victor bulled his way into their circle.

"Yup. We were just discussing Erik and his decision to be nice our resident nerd." Janos said. Erik glared at him, and restrained from commenting on how close to Azazel he was standing. "He's bringing him his homework."

"So?" Victor grinned at them. "We can screw with his head."

"Awesome idea." Azazel said. He grabbed for the binder sticking out of Erik's bag. "Give it, I'll trash whatever looks most important. We can watch him have a meltdown when his gpa drops a tenth of a point."

"That's lame." Victor grumbled. He pulled out a piece of paper. "Stick this in his homework folder, and see if he actually does it." Erik frowned and looked at the piece of paper. Victor had grabbed a sharpie and was printing in big, block letters. "There's a u in suicide, right?"

"What the hell are you writing?" Erik yanked the paper from Victor and read it. "_Go commit suicide, you faggot?_"

There was a moment of dead silence.

"That's a horrible thing to say." Emma finally said. She took the paper from Erik's suddenly nerveless fingers and folded it up. "And it could probably get you put in juvie."

"Whatever." Vic grumbled. "Just because you're all pussies doesn't mean that the rest of can't be honest."

"Dude." Janos shook his head. His face was a little bit queasy. "Come on Az, we've got pick up drinks for the party."

"Yeah, yeah." Azazel sort of shrugged and followed Janos away. Victor glared at them all and stormed off down at hallway, looking annoyed to not have Charles to push into a locker.

"What a moron." Emma sighed and tossed her head. "I'll see you later." She swayed off down the halls, drawing all eyes as ever. Emma tried to wrap his head around the word suicide and the fact that anyone would _say_ something like that to Charles.

* * *

><p>Erik walked up the steps to Charles's castle and knocked on the door.<p>

"Who the fuck are you?" A very tall and very muscular young man stood in the doorway, glaring at him. Red hair hung around his eyes and almost down to his nose, which had clearly been broken more than once, giving him a brutish look.

"Who the fuck are _you_?" Not Erik's best comeback, but it was the first thing that popped into his head. "I'm here to give Charles his homework."

"Whatever." The boy, who looked to be a couple years older than Charles, scowled. "I think Wimp's in the library." He turned and walked off, having seemingly decided that Erik was no longer worth his time.

The hell just happened?

Also, there was a _library_ in here?

Ten minutes later, Erik was no longer confused about whether or not a library could fit in this place. He was bewildered as to where the hell the thing actually was. This whole castle was a maze of corridors with velvet carpeting and antiques.

"Excuse me, sir." Erik managed to not jump as a man in a suit appeared from a doorway. "Do you have an appointment with one of the Xaviers?"

"I'm looking for Charles. I've got his homework, and someone told me he was in the library." Great. Erik didn't sound sketchy at all. The man looked at him down his nose, then pointed down the hallway.

"The library is down this corridor, through the Da Vinci wing, third door on the left." Erik nodded and hurried off, trying to shake the creepy feeling that people in tuxedos were watching from the shadows. But the man's directions held true, and Erik found himself walking into a librarian's paradise.

"Charles?" He called. A maze of dark wooden bookcases at least ten feet tall had been placed in the room. It was quiet except for the sound of papers rustling. It was bigger than their school library. And all the books looked like super expensive first edition hard covers.

"By the autobiographies." Charles's voice came from somewhere within.

"That's not exactly helpful." Erik tried to follow Charles's voice. This place had godawful acoustics. He heard the patter of lighter feet than Charles's, and Raven dove at him.

"Erik!"

"Hey kiddo." Erik ruffled her hair. Raven giggled.

"Charles sent me to find you." She informed him. Erik found himself being dragged through a maze of books by a five year old who apparently had a better sense of direction than he did.

"Hey Erik." Charles flashed him a smile. He was sitting on the floor with his back to a bookcase, and a rather large book on his lap. Erik sat down across from him and took out the binder. "Thanks for bringing my homework."

"No problem. I did get lost on the way." Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Really? The doorman should have escorted you." Doorman. They had a doorman.

"Was that the redhead?" Charles stiffened.

"Ah. No, that was Cain." Charles sighed. "I'm sorry, he just likes causing trouble."

"Who is he?" Erik was hoping that wasn't Charles's boyfriend. He might be taking advantage of Charles's involuntary leave from school to have fun. That was Erik would do. If he was Charles's boyfriend. Which he wasn't, and didn't want to be anyway.

"My stepbrother. Normally he's at private school, but he managed to get himself suspended yet again." Charles explained. He turned to Raven. "Sweetheart, could you please find me Asimov's chemistry book?"

"Sure." Raven walked off. Charles began flipping through the binder. Erik wondered why Charles wasn't at private school. Not that he wasn't glad that Charles went to their crappy high school, but he'd probably have an easier time in private. And it wasn't like he couldn't afford it.

"AP Chem, AP Comp, AP Euro…" Charles mouthed the classes as he checked. Erik frowned.

"Aren't those classes only available for seniors?"

"I skipped a few lower classes so I can get the credits to graduate early." Erik felt his train of thought stutter to a halt.

"You're graduating early?"

"At the end of this year. I've already sent in most of my college applications, and gotten my reference letters." Charles smiled slightly. "Away to Oxford, as soon as this year is over."

"Dude, you're leaving?" Erik's mouth opened and closed. "Why?"

"You're _kidding_ right?" Charles shoved a binder aside and picked up a notebook.

"But you'll miss senior year, and you won't get to graduate with the class."

"Oh dear me, I'll miss a year of tramping through hallways and using filthy bathrooms, how will I survive? Besides, I haven't exactly _bonded_ with our class." Charles said. "I think I'd rather not graduate alongside those of them who actually get diplomas."

"Then why aren't you at private school?" Erik snapped back. That tone of voice rankled. I'm sure you can afford it if our school isn't good enough for your precocious little mind."

Somewhere in Erik's mind, it registered that he had for once in his life used one of their vocabulary words.

"They all board, and I didn't want to leave Raven." Charles said shortly. "And in all honesty, it's just as likely that I'd be disliked in a private school. I'd just have to share rooms with the aggressors."

"So you don't want to leave your sister and you're going to college early. That's screwy logic." Charles glared at Erik.

"I'm taking her."

"Excuse me?"

"I can afford off-campus housing without issue. Raven can enroll in primary school, and she'll live with me." Charles began writing down notes.

"Is that even legal?"

"My lawyer worked it out with me."

"Your _lawyer?"_

"Technically, he's employed by my mother but since he has access to her will and no doubt wants to keep his job after she passes away, he's more than willing to work with me." Charles's mouth tightened. "We settled it."

"So you're going to drag a five year old to England with you? Isn't that bad for child development or something?" Erik realized about a second after he mentioned it that he was perhaps poking his nose into things that were none of his business.

"Excuse me, are you trying to tell me that you understand _my sister_ better than I do?" Charles's tone turned frigid. Erik backtracked.

"No! Look, forget I said anything. It's none of my business." Charles nodded and returned to the notes. "So, England? At the end of the year?"

"Yup." Charles shot him a half smile. "Do me a favor and don't tell people? I deal with enough harassment without having Victor find out that he won't have me around next year."

"No problem." Erik looked around. "Where did Raven get to?"

"You know, that's an excellent question. Raven?" Charles called. The blonde came from around the bookcase, pouting. "Don't go wandering around, sweetheart."

"Yes Charles." Raven sighed and sat down, handing over a thick book. "I found it."

"Thank you." Charles opened it and checked his watch. "Erik, don't you have boyfriendly duties on Fridays?"

"Shit." Erik had forgotten all about that party. "Um, how do I get out of here?"

"Come on." Charles got to his feet with a wince. "There's a side door out of the library to the back of the manor. Do you want me to call a cab?"

"There's a bus stop a mile from here. I can walk." Erik said.

* * *

><p>Emma's house wasn't nearly as big as Charles's castle, but it was certainly big. Erik stepped up to the door and was about to knock when it occurred to him that if he walked around the back, he might be able to lie about being late.<p>

Wow. Erik walked through the side yard to their back yard, and found himself looking at a rather massive swimming pool. Currently, it was populated by several girls in bikinis and two guys who had apparently jumped in fully clothed.

"Erik!" Azazel waved at him from the other side of the pool. Music streamed from inside the house. Erik headed toward him, catching the bottle Azazel tossed him. "Where you been?"

"Around. What is this?" The label had been torn off.

"I have no idea. We're about to start playing guess the beer brand." Erik grimaced and tossed the bottle back at Azazel. "What?"

"I'm not going home drunk." Azazel leered.

"This is your girlfriend's house, nobody said you have to go home." Erik sighed. Azazel rolled his eyes. "If you see Janos, tell him to come out here."

"Will do. Do you have any idea where Emma is?"

"Hanging around inside somewhere."

"Thanks." Azazel snickered and sprawled over a chair, popping open the unmarked bottle. Erik walked inside.

It was loud. Very loud. Erik winced and pushed his way through the crowd of teenagers, half of whom were drinking. Seriously, he was leaving before the police broke this party up.

"Emma?" He thought he caught a flash of blonde. Erik make his way into the kitchen, dodging the freshmen who were singing along to some fast paced music. Janos was in the kitchen, pulling bags out of the cabinets. "Azazel is looking for you."

"Really?" Janos brightened a bit. "You want chips?"

"I'm good. Have you seen Emma?" Janos tossed a few bags of chips on the counter and opened one.

"She was ordering pizza last time I saw her." Janos grabbed a handful of chips. "Try wherever there's the thickest concentration of people."

"Uh huh." Erik left the kitchen and began shoving his way towards the living room. The sound of music only got louder. He restrained the urge to put his hands over his ears. It would make him look less intimidating, and the intimidation factor was really the only reason he was getting through the crowds so easily.

"Erik, there you are." Emma pressed herself up to him and passed him a cup. Erik sniffed it. Just some kind of soda. "Relax, it's coke. I'm not drunk."

"You're in the minority." Erik had to raise his voice to be heard over the music. "Aren't your parents mad?"

"They're in Boston celebrating an anniversary!" Emma called. "So, what do you think?"

"Great party." Erik glanced around. "Did you actually invite the freshmen?"

"Victor is bouncing." Emma giggled. Erik downed the rest of his cup. So Victor was still here. "I know he's a douche, but he's big, and he doesn't let freshmen in just because they slip him twenties."

"I've seen like ten freshmen girls here." Erik deadpanned. Emma rolled her eyes.

"They probably flashed him. But hey, want to dance?"

"I don't know how to dance." Well, his mom had taught him to ballroom dance once in a fit of nostalgia for their piano back in Germany, but he somehow doubted that it was possible to dance to whoever was singing right now. "And my ears hurt."

"You are _such _a buzz kill." Emma laughed again. "Would you like to see the upstairs rooms?"

"Sure?" As long as the music stopped blaring, Erik would be happy to inspect a doghouse. Emma dragged him upstairs. In Erik's opinion, it was creepily quiet up here. He took another swallow of coke from the glass he'd snagged before coming upstairs.

"My room is over here." Her room? _Her_ room?

"That's nice." Erik thought that maybe he should have thought this through better. "I think I'm going to go check on Janos and Azazel."

"Probably smart." Emma shot him a strange look as she hurried back down the stairs. It might have been Erik's imagination, but he thought she looked a tad relieved. "My parents will be pissed if someone drowns in my pool."

"That's one way of looking at it." Erik separated from Emma as she swayed off to check on her guests. He went looking for Janos. Mainly because Janos was one of the few people here he felt capable of carrying on a conversation with.

"Hey, Erik!" Janos waved to him from on the edge of the patio. He had Azazel draped across his shoulder. Erik staggered up to him, wondering faintly why his friend had gotten so blurry. "Uh, dude, are you sure you can make it home?"

"Don't be an idiot, I'm not drinking."

"Um." Janos coughed awkwardly. Azazel hiccupped.

"What?" Erik narrowed his eyes, and there were four Janoses.

"I sorta spiked the drinks." Erik stared down at the cup. Was this his third or fourth? "Don't go anywhere, okay? I'm just going to get Az to the bathroom before he pukes on me."

"Shokey." Huh. Erik's speech seemed to be slurred. Janos rolled his eyes and commenced hauling Azazel away to a bathroom. Gosh, it was loud at this party. Erik downed the remaining liquid in his cup. If he was already drunk, it couldn't do much harm.

Erik decided to seek out his girlfriend. After all, this was her party, and someone probably needed to tell her about the state of her drinks. Or he could find Victor and punch him. Both options were equally tempting.

There was a _door_. Erik stared at the sliding glass. He couldn't find the handle. Why was there no handle? What moronic idiotic sucky little asshole designed a door with no handle…a dude walked through it.

Oh. Maybe the door was open.

Erik swayed onto the patio. There was his girlfriend over there, lounging in a deck chair watching the horde of scantily clad teenagers in her pool. He could totally get in on that pool. There were loads of shirtless dudes in with the bikinis, and Erik definitely could appreciate that.

"Erik!" Janos grabbed his arm. "Dude, you need to lie down. Will your parents mind if you stay all night?"

"Maman wird mich umbringen." He was going to die anyway though.

"Okay." Janos sighed. "I'll drive you home then."

"Ich kann den Bus nehmen."

"I think you said bus somewhere in there and speaking from experience, bus drivers get really mad if you barf on their bus." Janos maneuvered him towards the street. "I'm driving Az back to my place anyway, I can drop you off."

"Whaba Emma?"

"She's fine, probably not even that drunk. Trust me, we should be gone if the cops show up, since not all of us can pretend to be vulnerable and blame college kids." Huh. That explained Emma's lack of a record. "What's your address?"

"6 hundertzwanzig…"

"In _English._" Had he been speaking German? Erik corrected himself and repeated the address in English. Janos nodded and shoved Erik into the back seat of a car.

"Janos? Janos man, I _love_ you man. Totally. Love." Azazel was already there, buckled into the other side. Janos sighed and nodded to Erik's seatbelt.

"Can you fasten it yourself?" Erik scowled. Just because it looked like there were two seatbelts didn't mean he couldn't fasten them.

"I luuurve you man." Azazel hiccupped. "Totes."

"Whatever." Janos slammed the door shut. Erik felt around for his seatbelt and felt his fingers brush his phone.

* * *

><p>"Charles?" Charles blinked and looked up from his copy of Twelfth Night. He was cross-legged on his bed, highlighting examples of dramatic irony in Act IV.<p>

"Yes Raven?" His sister, who had formerly been sitting on the floor playing with a couple miniature cars, held up his phone.

"Your phone is buzzing." Now who on earth…

_Caller: Erik_

"Thank you sweetheart." Charles swallowed and answered. "Hello?"

"Heeeey Charles. You know, youse super smart."

"Have you been _drinking?_" Oh, God. Charles really didn't trust people once they had consumed a lot of alcohol. "D-do you need a ride or something?"

"Janos's driving me home." Good. As willing as Charles would be to make sure Erik didn't drunk drive himself into a car accident, the thought of going to a party with a lot of drunk jocks, most of whom were bigger than him, sent fear twisting through his guts.

"That's good." Charles sighed. "Goodnight, Erik."

* * *

><p>Erik blinked at his phone. Did Charles just hang up? That was sad. The disappointed tone of voice Charles had been affecting was sad too.<p>

"Dude, we're at your building. Do you need help getting inside?" Janos leaned back to look at him. "I can explain to your mom that you just got a bad dose of spiked punch."

"Nah, I'll be fine." Erik got out of the car. The night had gone cool, and it was easier to think away from the pounding music. "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime." Janos waited until Erik was inside the building before switching direction to drive to his house.

Erik made his way into his apartment.

"_Well."_ His mother was sitting on the couch, her expression severe. Erik cringed. _"Are you aware of the time?"_

"_Yes Mama."_

"_Are you aware of your curfew?"_

"_Yes Mama." _Erik felt a moment of nausea. _"I was going to call, but there was this spiked drink…"_

"_Of course."_ She sighed and rose to her feet. _"We'll discuss this in the morning, Erik."_

* * *

><p>"Morning Charles." Erik eyed the smaller boy. Charles was looking at him warily. "What?"<p>

"Are you sober?"

"I…of course I'm sober! It's eight in the morning!" And besides that, his mother had made it perfectly clear that next time Erik saw any hint of alcohol at a party, he was leaving. If he was ever allowed to attend a party again before he was in college, which looked doubtful. "And we're in school."

"Mmhmm." Charles went back to sorting books.

"Come on." Erik sighed. "It was one stupid party, and I didn't even know I was drinking." A thought occurred to him. "How did _you_ know?"

"You called me." Charles eyed him. "Don't you remember?"

"No." Shit. "Um, what did I say?"

"Nothing in particular. You did say I was…" Erik hoped to God he hadn't said anything about Charles being attractive. "Smart."

Phew. Erik had vague memories of staring at shirtless men in a pool, and though thus far it looked like he hadn't actually tried anything, it gave him another very compelling reason to not drink.

"Well, you are." Charles made a noncommittal noise. "Sorry?"

"I just don't like it when people get very drunk." Charles avoided his gaze.

"It's not a habit, and I'm convinced it was one of the stupidest things I've ever done. Happy?" Not that he had any reason to justify himself to Charles Xavier, but he really didn't want Charles to have a bad opinion of him.

That was probably another bad sign about him.

"I never wasn't." Charles shrugged.

**A/N: Every time I spell the word "alcohol", it comes out "alchohol." That made this a major pain to write. But hey, review? Please? And don't worry about the screwy German, this time it was intentional. Drunk!Erik doesn't think about tenses and the like.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Things are heating up…Also, oh my god this story has so many reviews now. I just do not have words to express how happy these reviews make me.**

**Also, Lyuba? You were my 100****th**** review. *Enormous Cyberhug* I have never gotten this many reviews for one fic in my whole life. I'm honored by how much you all seem to like this!**

**Disclaimer: Stan Lee has still not gifted MARVEL to me. That fool.**

Ororo Munroe had been a teacher for several years. She'd gotten her hard earned degree, split up her fair share of fights, seen through thousands of lies about homework, graded countless papers, and generally been accepted as a good teacher.

Still, it was a relief when the day was over. She didn't have anyone coming in for tutoring, or to make up a test, and all there was to do was lean on her desk and sip coffee, watching the storm clouds build outside the window.

Not bliss, precisely, but about as close as one could get in a high school. Ororo listened to the pitter-patter of adolescent feet and contemplated the task of getting started on the second half of the student essays. Principal Shaw would demand that grades be in by Friday, a demand Ororo privately thought to be foolish. Honestly, why they needed those progress reports was beyond Ororo, since any halfway decent teacher informed students they were getting Ds before the term was half over.

Oh well. Such was life.

There was a bang from the hallway. Ororo frowned. She heard those all the time. Usually it was a popular student shoving one of the less fortunate into a locker. One day, Ororo was going to find a way to make Shaw acknowledge the extent of the bullying that went on in the hall and actually _enforce_ their anti-bullying policy.

She stepped into the hallway, prepared to dole out detentions. The culprits almost always fled the scene before they could be caught, but there was the off-chance that she could punish someone.

No one was there, except a small figure sitting against the lockers, a weary look about him. Ororo flinched to see the defeated cast to his shoulders.

"Charles?" He jerked and scrambled to his feet, back pressed against the locker.

"Ms. Munroe?"

"Are you okay?" The bruise on his face had faded, but there was a slump in Charles's shoulders she didn't like. Charles nodded rapidly.

"Yes ma'am. I'm fine."

"Who pushed you?" She knew perfectly well that Charles was picked on. Every school had a few kids to beat on - the poor souls who, when problems in the lives of their peers arose, were always available to make their schoolmates feel better.

"No one. I tripped." Ororo sighed.

"Come into my room, dear. I'd like to talk to talk to you."

"Y-yes Ms. Munroe." Charles followed her, holding his backpack strap in a vise grip. Ororo reached over her desk and picked up a file.

"I've just finished grading your essay. It was superbly written."

"Thank you Ma'am." Charles's eyes darted at her, a spark in them.

"It is of course, not as impressive as the fact that you managed to trip into a line of lockers hard enough to make them vibrate." Charles's stare flicked back to the floor. "Dear, it's not your fault. You wouldn't be in the wrong to complain."

"Yes Ma'am." Ororo sighed.

"Word in the faculty bathroom is that you're graduating early."

"Yes Ma'am."

"That's quite extraordinary. You're a very dedicated student Charles, and it seems like you've been a bit down lately." Charles shrugged. Ororo's brow furrowed. Since their guidance department had about a tenth of the amount of funding it needed, and was stretched to the limit just getting the students into college, she'd unofficially taken over the counseling role, and ended up talking to students about their issues daily. So she knew quite a bit about body language.

Granted, fear wasn't usually what was projected at her.

"Dear?"

"I'm fine Ms. Munroe." Well, that was a blatant lie. Grades were out, Charles had a 5.0 average. Relationship? Last she heard, Charles had neither friends nor a boyfriend, though there was Erik Lensherr…who was dating Emma Frost. Ah.

"No relationship problems? High School can be tough on those." Charles shook his head.

"I'm fine ma'am."

"Fighting with your parents?" That was more than common. And it wouldn't be the first time a gay student had a less than ideal home life.

"No ma'am." Charles said quietly. "Everything's fine."

"Well, if you say so." Ororo decided to give this particular conversation as a lost cause. Forcing Charles into repeating the same sentence for another half hour wasn't going to help with anything. "Anyway, I found a collection of short stories I thought you might like." Hopefully, that would put a smile on his face.

"Thank you." A smile fluttered out. Ororo could feel relief pour through her, if only to see that he was still smiling. She held out the book, and Charles reached out to take it. His sleeve rode up, baring pale skin.

Well, not entirely pale. Dark purple bruises marred his forearm.

"What's that?" She asked sharply. Charles froze.

"N-nothing, Ms. Munroe." He took a step back, tugging his sleeve down. "May I go?"

"No. Roll up your sleeve." Charles took another step back, his eyes wide.

"M-Ms. Munroe, I have to go pick up my sister." He kept backing away. "I-I'm sorry."

"Of course, dear. But please come back to tell me what you think of the book." Ororo restrained herself from yanking up the sleeve - Charles looked terrified enough. She watched him hurry out, fear and suspicion starting to churn around her stomach.

* * *

><p>Erik walked down the hall in a daze. His test paper was clutched in his hand.<p>

"Hey Erik, we on for after school? I've got some _fun_ plans." Emma's purr echoed in his ear as she latched onto his arm. Angel Salvadore pushed past him on her way to her locker, and it barely registered.

"Whatever. I think I'm busy." Emma sniffed and disappeared into the morass of students with a toss of her hair. Erik dumped his stuff in his locker, trying to focus his brain enough to remember what his homework was. Thirty problems for math. Essay. Worksheet. He unloaded the necessary books and crossed the hallway.

"Charles?" Charles was looking vaguely worried, something that Erik probably should have noticed and maybe asked about. "Could I talk to you?"

"Sure. But I'm running late and I already told Raven that I would take her to the park so she could play with Hank after school." Charles hurried down the hall and into the parking lot. Erik followed, sliding into the car without a word.

"You're quiet." Charles commented. Erik shrugged. "I thought you wanted to talk about something?"

"Huh?" Erik jerked from his thoughts. "Oh, yeah."

"If it's your chemistry homework, I can explain it to while Raven plays." Charles offered.

"Sure." Erik watched in a rather detached way as they pulled into the parking lot and Raven rushed up to them. She waved at a brown haired boy with glasses. "Is that Hank?"

"Uh huh." Raven said breathlessly. "Can we go to the park? Cause you promised we could and Hank gave me applesauce at lunch cause I said we could go on the swings first and they've got a big slide!"

"Of course." Charles waved at Moira. "I did promise."

* * *

><p>Erik was still in a bit of a daze when Charles plopped down under a tree and sent Raven running off to a well populated playground.<p>

"Here." Charles flashed him a smile. "No one comes here except a couple of parents." The space behind the tree was surprisingly concealed, despite the excellent view of the playground. "I found it running from Vic and some of his friends a few years ago." Charles smiled at the bushes fondly. "It's heartening that the bushes grow back the same way every year. So, chemistry?"

"I got a 98 on the math test." Erik said abruptly. A delighted smile spread over Charles's face. It made his eyes sparkle.

"Erik, that's wonderful _mmph!_" Charles made a shocked sound as Erik's lips cut off the rest of his sentence.

They were soft. That was Erik's first thought. He expected that of course, but still it was amazing how they were nicer than Emma's lips or really any girl's lips ever and he could do this all day and somehow his hand had moved to cup Charles's cheek and this was just about as close to perfection as he'd been in his whole life.

Charles broke away. His cheeks had turned pink, but there wasn't much sparkle left in his eyes.

"Thank you. That was very pleasant." Charles said softly. Erik was about to open his mouth and respond with something stupid and cheesy when Charles continued. "Who dared you?"

"Huh?"

"Or, did you lose a bet?" Charles began gathering up his things. "I'm guessing you weren't paid, going by your pride."

"What? No, it wasn't - "

"Sure." Charles voice was one of someone who had long since resigned himself to being the brunt. "Victor, at a guess. It's less likely to be Azazel, since Janos already did this and he'd more original."

"No one bet me or dared me." Erik said slowly. He couldn't believe that right when he _finally_ screwed up the courage to actually kiss a guy it was going like this. "I wanted to."

"Right." Charles let out an incredulous laugh. "_You_ like _me._ Look, I'm just going to go. You can tell your stupid friends I fell for it."

"There was nothing to fall for!" Erik said sharply. Charles snorted.

"Yeah, right. I get it, it's cool to go after the gay kid. I have to tell you that it didn't really get the desired effect, since I'm not going to cry over this. Tell your homophobic friends I did if it will make you feel better."

"No!" Erik said incredulously. "I like you! I actually like you, it's not some dumb trick!"

"Did you forget that I'm another guy at some point?" Charles said harshly.

"I'm _gay_. Absolutely, incurably, gay." Erik hadn't ever said that out loud before. It felt kind of...awesome.

"Your girlfriend will be quite surprised at this revelation."

"Just because some of us aren't as secure or self assured about this as you are - "

"Forgive me for not being quite desperate enough to be a dirty little secret, despite what the rumor mill thinks of me. As much as you and Emma are shamelessly using each other, I'd rather be a loser. It feels less pathetic."

"It wouldn't be like that!"

"Because you're so full of pride." Charles deadpanned. "And that's assuming you aren't going to go back to your friends and laugh over this later." He sighed and got to his feet. Erik scrambled up after him.

"Why do you find the fact that maybe I actually like you so impossible?"

"Oh _please_." Charles's laugh this time had a slightly hysterical edge. "I'm not exactly attractive."

"You've got to be kidding me." Erik muttered. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Unfortunately." Charles snapped. "Just…don't talk to me anymore."

Erik watched Charles start off across the playground, calling for Raven to come. Raven hurried up to him looking bewildered. As he watched them leave, Erik had the feeling he had screwed up rather badly. If only he knew _how._

* * *

><p>"Erik, what's wrong?" Erik looked up from his book. His mother had put down her knitting needles and was watching him with a frown.<p>

"Nothing. Just a school thing."

"Is Emma involved?"

"What?" Oh right. His girlfriend. God, what a mess. "No."

"Charles?"

"Mmm." His mother was scary.

"Well if there's any way I can help, don't hesitate to ask." Erik wondered if she'd still feel that way if she knew he was…gay. Gay. He still had to get used to thinking that in his mind, let alone saying it out loud.

"Thanks Mama." Erik rubbed his head. He _still_ needed help with his chemistry homework.

"I'm headed to bed. Love you." Erik blinked. Since he'd entered adolescence that phrase didn't seem to come up as often. Like deep conversations, it had just fallen by the wayside.

"Love you too." She got up and patted his shoulder. Erik listened to her feet pad away on the thin carpeting and wondered what Charles was doing. Homework too, if he knew Charles. Maybe he was thinking about Erik too.

* * *

><p>On the other side of town, Charles Xavier wiped his eyes for the millionth time and watched the words on the textbook swim. Raven was curled up in his bed - she wasn't feeling very secure today, and leaving the park so abruptly probably hadn't helped - fast asleep.<p>

He wiped his nose and stifled a hysterical giggle as a teardrop leaked out anyway and blurred a few characters. Great.

_Why_ was he crying? He had no business crying just because Erik was just as bad as all the other jocks. It wasn't like he hadn't thought that was probably true from the beginning, but he'd liked Erik in a stupid way he had no business feeling and there was going to be another rumor by tomorrow morning.

Great. The last thing he needed was yet another tale of his level of pathetic circulating about the school.

Charles firmly told himself to stop wallowing in self-pity. He got up to grab some aspirin and maybe check the massive scrape he'd gotten on his side. It didn't really hurt but the skin was broken in a couple of places, and if anyone saw…

Especially Ms. Munroe. This really had just been an awful day, and Charles wished, not for the first time, that he could go to bed and not have to worry about what was waiting when he woke up.

**A/N: Review? Pretty please? I know it's on the short side, but other, longer, chapters will come. Eventually. For some reason, all my chapters are being short right now *eyetwitch*.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Happy Tuesgay, y'all. **

**Poor Charles. His life does kind of suck. But it will eventually get better. Hopefully. Probably. Maybe. Spoilers. Also oh my god that last chapter got so many freaking reviews that I find it overwhelming and made lots of inhuman noises.**

**Excuse while I go to a corner and rock back and forth making happy noises.**

**Disclaimer: And yet despite my tiny mental breakdown because of reviews, I don't own MARVEL. It's a tragic thing.**

Erik glanced across the hallway. Charles was putting things in his locker with his back to Erik. To talk to and possibly piss off, or to ignore and go on with normal life…Erik hurried across the hallway.

"Hey, Charles." He leaned against the lockers.

"Please go away."

"Come on!" Erik lowered his voice. "At least talk to me."

"No."

"Look, I know you don't believe that I genuinely" Erik lowered his voice further "like you. But you were fine hanging out with me before, and I miss you."

"Yeah _right._" Charles slammed his locker shut and started walking down the hall.

"Come on!" Erik hurried after him. "Fine, then we pretend it never happened. Whatever."

"No."

"Charles!" This was like pulling fucking teeth. "Well then, tell me what you meant about Emma."

"Go away." Charles turned a corner. Erik recognized that they were near Ms. Munroe's room now, a far less populated hallway. Mainly because Ms. Munroe was terrifying when she hadn't had coffee.

"She's my girlfriend, I think I have a right to know!"

"Oh so _first_ you like me and now you're claiming your rights as a girl's boyfriend to know stuff about her?" Charles shook his head. "Why am I even talking to you?"

"Do you have something on her?" Erik asked.

"I'm not telling you anything Erik. Go away."

"No. And you should tell me! If you've got something really bad on her, we could spread it around school, or put it on the internet…" Erik's mind flitted over the possibilities. The homecoming queen suddenly actually getting bumped into in hallways. Maybe some of the popular kids no longer having the best lunch table. "You would be a legend."

"Yeah, that's _just_ what I want to do with my life. Be a legend in a crappy little school in a crappy little town because I tore down the reputations of crappy little people." Charles glared over his shoulder. "I've got a bit more self respect than that."

"Don't tell me you don't love the thought." Charles whirled around.

"_First_ of all, these are your supposed friends you're talking about. Secondly, I know what it's like to be looked at the way people look at me, and it sucks."

"So, let them have a taste!"

"Oh, please Erik. Like I need to." Charles took in Erik's expression. "Look. Half those popular kids you think should get taken down a peg? Believe me, that's going to happen. For a bunch of them, it's happening already - how many of the jocks do you think are actually getting athletic scholarships? Our team isn't exactly first in the league! High school is the _best part _of their lives. I'm not mean enough to take that away just so I can watch Emma Frost's lunch tray get slapped to the ground." Charles paused. "And I'd probably get beaten up."

"But you'd be a _legend._"

"Erik." Charles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "All I want is to survive this year with my sanity intact and most of my bones unbroken. You are not helping with the former, and frankly, I doubt you've the balls to help with the latter. Now please, for the last time, go away." Charles hurried into homeroom. Erik walked in after him, fully intent on badgering Charles until he explained. Or hugging him. Both looked good right now.

"Erik, don't you have somewhere to be?" Ms. Munroe shot him a _look_ from her desk.

"Yes Ms. Munroe." Erik backed out of the room. One didn't mess with Ms. Munroe when she was in a protective mood.

* * *

><p>Erik propped his head in his hand and poked at his lunch.<p>

"So anyway, you know that freshman John? Suspended." Emma nudged him. "No comment at all, Erik?"

"Not in the mood." Erik glanced at Emma. She was a girl. Didn't girls understand relationships? "When girls like people, do they do something where they pretend they're mad about something when they're really mad about something else or stressed or whatever?"

"Well, that was word vomit." Janos muttered. Azazel snickered and stole one of his fries.

"Um." Emma crumpled her milk carton and tossed it into the nearest trash can. "I literally have no idea what you're talking about. And since when do you talk to other girls?"

"Never mind." Fair point. And since Charles wasn't a girl, that line of questioning was probably insulting towards gay pride. Or something. Erik was new at this. "Anyway Emma, there's something I want to talk to you about after school. In private." Azazel and Janos leered. Erik glared.

"How promising." Emma said, stabbing her sandwich with her fork in a rather predatory manner.

* * *

><p>"<em>Excuse<em> me?" Emma stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"I said I don't think this is working out." Erik was glad he'd decided to not do this at their lunch table. Or in a crowded hallway. Then again, if he'd done this at either of those locations, there would be witnesses to stop Emma from clawing his eyes out.

"Oh, because it sounded almost like you want to break up."

"That was the general point, yeah." Erik agreed. Emma's lips parted in shock. "You're really great. You are. But I'm not getting much out of this, and I really think we were better off not being together. It's not you…"

"It's not you, it's me?" Emma said incredulously. "Are you actually using the, It's Not You It's Me line? You couldn't think of anything more original?"

"Basically."

"Well." Emma took a shuddering breath. "I've never been dumped before."

"Dumped is really a harsh word…"

"I'm standing under a stairwell after school while a guy tells me that he's ending our relationship. I _think_ that defines being dumped." Erik winced. He had probably done this wrong.

"So, I'll see you around?" Fleeing was probably the best option at this point.

"Is there another woman involved? I know for a fact that at least three other cheerleaders think you're cute. Not that any of them are going out with you if they want to stay on the squad."

"No. No other girl." Technically, that wasn't lying. "I just don't want, um, a relationship. Right now." Lie.

"Great. Fucking great. I think that's even worse." Emma took two steps back. "Also, you're not nearly as good a kisser as you think you are. And for the record, if you'd stayed, I would've had sex with you."

"I don't want…"

"Yeah _right. _You're a guy, you don't think of anything else." Emma glared at him. "I hope you know you're not going to do better."

"Depends on where you look." Erik said quietly. Emma tossed her hair.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Erik said. He wondered if there was a good way to say that he would be fine with staying friends, since Emma's brand of evil was actually quite entertaining at times, but he just really wasn't attracted to her, without Coming Out. There wasn't one he could think of. "Look, I've got to go talk to Charles…"

"So you're going to cut short a break up conversation to talk to that fucking faggot?" Emma snapped. "Oh wow. That's just hilarious, I'm being ditched for a fairy _again._"

"Shut up!" Erik had never really wanted to hit a girl before. "You know, he's a lot nicer than you are."

"Gee whiz, he's nice!" Emma mocked. "Gosh Erik, do you want someone to give him a medal?"

"No, but maybe you could show some appreciation, since apparently he knows one of your dirty little secrets." Erik said harshly. Emma's cheeks went two degrees paler. Erik felt a grin creep onto his face. "Didn't consider that, did you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emma said coldly. Her fingers flitted to her phone. "Fine. If you'd rather hang out with a loser, go for it. I'll just go find some other guy. God knows they're lining up." Emma stalked off, and Erik got that bad feeling again.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Charles!" Charles, who was a step away from getting into his car, ignored Erik. "Wait up!"<p>

"You should probably keep it down. Your girlfriend might notice."

"Actually, I broke up with her. I'm single." Charles sighed. "So, can I buy you coffee?"

"No." Erik groaned.

"Come on! I'm doing my best here, and you were fine with my company before."

"I'm not interested in a relationship right now Erik. I have enough going on." Erik rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Then help me with my chemistry homework and I'll refrain from kissing you again." Even though that sounded sucky and awkward and Erik really would have rather just gone out on a date. Or just retracted that whole kissing thing so he could at least go back to being _friends_ with Charles. "But at least talk to me."

"No thanks. And you should move from in front of my car, I really don't want to run you over." Charles focused on not looking at Erik.

"What is your problem? You talked to me normally the first day you started tutoring me and just because I express actual _interest_ you decide I'm not allowed to be within two feet of you?"

"Pretty much." Erik frowned.

"You don't already have a boyfriend do you?" Because Erik was totally willing to go beat that boyfriend up then sweep Charles off and ride away into the sunset. Just as long as they did it in private.

"_No._" Charles glared at him. "I don't _want_ a boyfriend, let alone some stupid leather jacket wearing douchebag, who, at first opportunity, will go running back to his jock friends and probably throw me in dumpster."

"Wait, you've been thrown in a dumpster?" Erik didn't think that happened in real life. Charles rolled his eyes.

"Not the point."

"Charles! I like you. I'm gay. Do you just, not like me…?" That possibility had crossed Erik's mind more than once last night. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night. In fact, his brain had managed to bounce all the way from contemplations of why the grand master of fate had decided _he_ got to be gay, to nightmares wherein he was thrown from his home and long trains of thought about Charles.

"I don't want to talk about it." Charles finally opened his car door. "Are you going to stop bothering me?"

"Probably not." Erik said honestly. Not that his self esteem wasn't taking a beating already, but no one would ever claim he wasn't stubborn. "At least, not until you give me a straight answer about why you won't even talk to me."

"What part of 'I don't trust you' do you not understand?" Charles snapped.

"You trusted me enough before I kissed you."

"Do you know that you automatically lower your voice every time you say that?" Charles asked pleasantly. Erik winced.

"I'm not…look, I'm sorry if you want a boyfriend who isn't in the closet but…" Erik shook his head. What would his _mother_ say? "I'm really not ready. At all."

"That's not my problem Erik." Charles seemed to flinch. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about how confusing this must be for you. Of course you don't have to do anything you don't feel ready for."

"Thanks." Erik paused. "So, does that mean you'll at least spend time with me?"

"Erik…" Charles trailed off. "I get that you might want someone to talk to but I'm really not gay yoda."

"I figured." Erik shifted his weight. "That's what Google is for. I was looking for someone to go out with. Well I mean, not just someone, you specifically because you're kind of incredible."

"No." Charles was blushing though. "Even if you are serious, which I still sort of doubt."

"Fine." Erik grumbled. It was _not_ fine but clearly persistence wasn't going to work here, and Erik wasn't quite masochistic enough to keep pestering Charles. Also, he wasn't sure how serious Charles was about running him over. "Tell Raven I say hi."

"Will do." Charles slammed his car door shut. Erik watched him drive off, a strange sinking feeling in his chest. Not much to do now. Just go home and do homework.

When the hell did his life become so boring?

**A/N: Review? I swear, the next update will be faster. Within the week. I promise. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Tis only 4 days later! I told you I'd update soon. I feel so proud of myself.**

**Also, your reviews. I'm loving them so much. They're wonderful and nice and encouraging and seriously, I love you all. Words don't express how much the reviews mean to me =)**

**Disclaimer: Still not owning any X-Men.**

Erik was worried. Well, not worried exactly, but...well, worried. He hadn't seen Charles in school. Not that he'd lurked by Charles's locker until homeroom.

He supposed that Charles might just be sick. Or Raven could be sick. Or Charles had been late. Charles might be in one of his classes right now, and Erik just didn't know because he was in gym and gym was on the other side of the school from the main entrance.

"Lensherr!" Barked the coach. "Hustle!"

"Do you know why he's making us run laps for this long?" Janos jogged up behind Erik.

"He's not very creative?" Erik suggested. "How much longer is in this period anyway?"

"Like five minutes." Janos paused. "Emma says you two broke up."

"Yup."

"You don't look very affected."

"She's not really my type." Erik shrugged. Janos whistled.

"You must have a really specific type."

"Yeah." Janos eyed him and seemed to get the message that the topic wasn't open for discussion. "Is she um, doing okay?"

"I have no idea." Janos said. "She wasn't crying or anything." Erik rolled his eyes. Emma Frost crying was probably a sign of the apocalypse.

"Hit the showers!" Erik shot the gym teacher a halfhearted glare. He would rather have kept running laps until the day was over. Erik fell into step next to Janos as they headed for the locker room. Erik hated the locker room. Apart from the _smell_, and the general discomfort of being around a bunch of barely clothed men (which now made a lot more sense), there always the lurking danger of having your clothing stolen.

That hadn't happened today. Thankfully. Erik was 99% sure that if anything else happened to stress him out, he would flip and start murdering people. Or start skipping school, and his mother's reaction to _that_ would probably make a life-sentence for manslaughter look like a picnic.

"So, has coach gotten on you about the team?" Janos asked. Erik jumped and glared at him. Janos raised his hands, grinning. He was halfway through putting on his shirt. "He keeps telling me and Az to bother you about it."

"Not interested." Erik said. He stuffed his sweaty shirt into one of the deeper pockets of his backpack and pulled out a clean one.

"Please?" Janos made puppy-dog eyes. "We need good players."

"I barely know how football works, why do you think I'd be good at it?" Erik grumbled. He rooted through his bag for deodorant.

"Because you have muscles?" Janos offered sheepishly. Erik sighed. Did jocks have it easier when it came to getting dates? Probably, but Erik was unsure of how that would transmit to getting dates with guys. Especially nerdy guys who didn't even attend games. "You could score a hot cheerleader."

"Not according to Emma, and I really don't want to score a hot cheerleader." Erik said. There. That was being honest.

"You're insane." Janos shook his head. "I'll see you in French?"

"Yeah." Erik sighed and closed his eyes. He was _tired_. As he put a shirt on, it occurred to him that he was actually the last one in the locker room. How many pornos began like this?

There was a noise. Erik stiffened. Perhaps how many assault cases began like this was a more relevant question. The noise happened again, and Erik warily closed his locker door.

"Hello?" Oh, great. This wasn't B-horror movie esque at all.

"Erik?" Was that _Charles?_ Erik picked up his bag and peered around the lockers. As far as he could tell, he was the last person in here. Besides, he didn't have gym with Charles.

"Charles?" The hell? Erik looked around.

"Um, could you do me a favor?" Charles's voice was quiet. "I…it's just that I can't myself…"

"Where are you?" Erik was frowning. He really didn't like the thought of Charles in a locker room with a bunch of meatheads. It did happen fairly often though, since Charles had to have gym at some point…he'd never thought about that before. God, he hoped Charles didn't have gym with Victor.

"The ball closet." Charles just sounded embarrassed. "Um, Victor and a bunch of other jocks dragged me in here before homeroom and threw me in, and unfortunately it doesn't open from the inside."

"They _what?"_ Erik hurried over to the closet where most of the sports material was kept. God, that closet didn't even have a window, just a grille on the bottom that was clogged with dust anyway. He yanked the door open.

Charles was sitting on the floor with his hair mussed, his knees pulled up to his chin, arms wrapped around his knees. He was shaking.

"Thanks." Charles whispered. It smelled even worse in the closet than in the rest of room - apart from the BO and bad cologne, there was mud and dust and possibly some mouse droppings. And it was third fucking period, Charles had been in there for over two hours. "I was ready to throw up."

"They locked you in a closet?" Erik could feel little explosions going off in his head. Charles nodded, looking at Erik's shoes.

"Apparently, since I like balls so much, I should stay in the closet with them." Charles's hands were pink, and his knuckles scraped. He must have fought, or tried to open the door. "And no one is here until 2nd period and unfortunately, none of the guys in that gym class were willing to let me out."

"Right." Erik turned and began walking. Charles pushed himself to his feet. He didn't have any of his books with him, they'd taken his bag.

"Ah, Erik, are you alright?"

"I'm going to kill him."

"What?" Charles sounded very much alarmed. "Erik, I'm fine!"

"You were in a dark, stinking, closet for two fucking hours!" Erik headed into the hallway, murder still in mind. He could take Victor. He could totally beat the_ crap _out of Victor.

"But I'm fine! Erik! Erik!" Erik stalked through the crowds of sophomores who had classes on this floor. Victor's locker wasn't very far from here. "Erik! You'll get in trouble!"

"_Victor!"_ Yep, Vic was there. Just hanging out laughing with a couple of his friends, laughing, as if he wasn't the father of all assholes. Erik tossed his bag on the floor and punched him.

"What the fuck?" Victor yelped. Like magic, a circle cleared around them. Erik ignored them and prepared to kick some ass. He was great at violence. Victor touched the blood currently coursing down his face.

"You locked him in a _closet?_" Vic's expression of confusion cleared, turning to a nasty grin.

"You're upset about that faggot? Hey, he deserved - " Erik lunged and managed to get a right hook to Vic's eye before the other boy could duck away. "Fucking hell dude, why are you upset?"

"You're a dick who thinks it's okay to lock people in stinking, smelling, closets, and I'm going to kick your ass." Erik said flatly. There was a hiss from the crowd. A couple more prudent girls took several steps backward, though Erik observed Angel Salvadore pushing her way to the front.

"Look man." Vic looked nervous. He'd probably figured out that Erik was deadly serious. "He's just a faggot. Hell, he practically deserved it. I mean, he's queer."

Erik was going to _murder_ Victor.

"Dude, I don't get why you're upset." Vic swallowed. "If fags are too weak to fucking defend themselves…don't take it personal."

Erik cracked his knuckles. "No."

"Yuh…" Victor stared. "Are you _gay_?" There was a collective inhale.

"I'm going to kick your ass."

Victor lunged forward. Erik took a second to wonder whether for some reason his being gay made him an easier target, before dodging and slamming an elbow into Vic's ribs. Victor whirled and caught Erik's chin. Erik kicked his kneecap.

"Hey, hey! Break it up!" Shit. Erik slammed his fist into Victor's chin, hoping to get as many blows as possible in before a teacher intervened. Ms. Munroe and Principal Shaw shoved their way through the crowd.

"I said break it up!" yelled Shaw. Ms. Munroe stepped into the circle and Erik automatically lowered his fists. He'd heard about what happened when Ms. Munroe had to intervene in a fight.

Plus, he wasn't about to punch his favorite teacher. Victor, who clearly, hadn't heard the rumors, tried to get in another blow, inadvertently sending one of fists smacking into Ms. Munroe.

One second Victor was a murderous jock the next he was on his knees whimpering with one arm twisted behind his back. Ms. Munroe glared at the students who were foolish enough to linger.

"The bell has already rung. Everyone get to class before I start writing you up." The hallway cleared.

"Faggot." wheezed Vic. He was in far worse shape than Erik. "Fucking faggots started it."

"Shut up, Mr. Creed. Do you need an escort to the nurse's office, or are you in control of yourself?" Ms. Munroe said icily. Erik felt someone touch his arm.

"Um, Erik?" Charles said. "I think you're in a lot of trouble."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you did that." Charles muttered. They were sitting on the bench outside Shaw's office. "I can't <em>believe<em> you did that."

Erik shrugged. Now the haze of rage had cleared, he couldn't believe that he'd done it either.

"I can't believe you did that." Charles repeated. Erik sighed.

"Sorry?" Charles shook his head.

"No, that was…that was incredible. No one has ever stuck up for me like that." Erik flashed him a slight smile.

"I wasn't letting Vic just get away after locking you in a closet. It's inhumane." Charles let out a breathless laugh.

"Still. Do you have any idea what you just did?"

"Look, it just sort of…hit me that Victor was probably going to get away with shoving someone in closet and bullying you because half the faculty doesn't even _care_ and that isn't fucking okay, and if someone didn't actually come out and do something about it Victor was going to keep getting away with it." Until he got arrested. Erik would bet substantial money on Victor ending up in juvie, eventually. "Besides he locked you in a _closet._"

"I was going to say that you made the entire school think you're gay." Charles blushed. "And thank you for um, letting me out."

"I do have some backbone." Erik said. "And you know, Pride and such."

"I'm not sure that Pride is about beating people up." Charles reflected. "But, even though I think that violence is never justified and this will probably just come back to bite you in the butt…thank you." Charles smiled at him nervously.

"Welcome. But…that wasn't just for you, okay? It's not cool for that to happen to anyone, and I bet you aren't the only one who gets harassed."

"Oh, I'm not." Charles shivered. "But I'm the only one who comes to school regularly, I think."

"Huh." Erik made a mental note to start tallying up which students missed school all the time. He glanced at Charles, who looked extremely nervous. "What's wrong?"

Charles shrugged, shifting his weight. "The principal's office just makes me nervous."

"Sorry to get you landed here."

"Don't apologize." Charles stared at him. "That was probably the bravest thing I've seen anyone do in my entire life. I mean, you're going to get into so much trouble, and trying to beat someone up is really sort of irrational…"

Oy. Now that Erik was thinking clearly, flipping out on Vic probably had been stupid. Worth it, since people were going to think twice about touching Charles now, but still stupid. Which probably meant he was prone to doing stupid things.

"You know what? Forget about the dating thing." Charles glanced at him, looking surprised and a little relieved. "I should probably be focusing on getting my head together, not going out with anybody."

"Thanks." Charles blushed. "I mean, not that you're not datable, but…"

"Yeeah." Erik rubbed his chin, where a bruise was probably forming. "I know."

"Are you okay?" Charles shifted to stare at Erik's chin. It turned him crosseyed. "Vic can be a hard hitter."

"I'm fine. I can take a hit."

"Heh." Charles laughed uncertainly. "You do realize that now all the people who hate me are going to hate you too?"

"Bring it." Erik said flatly. "I'm not that easy to push around."

"Did you hear that?" Charles straightened. Erik listened. It sounded like extremely muffled shouting. "I think it's Ms. Munroe."

"You're that good at figuring out shouting?" Charles shrugged and cocked his head toward the office. Erik listened too, but couldn't discern any kind of words. "Is Vic in there?"

"No, he's with Nurse Grey." Charles's brow wrinkled. "That's Principal Shaw yelling back."

Erik watched the secretary shoot a nervous glance at the door to the office. She slowly got up and walked toward it, looking like it cost her effort to just life her feet off the carpet. She opened the door.

"_Regulation 32! Proposition 68! If you think I won't bring this to the school board_"

"_There's no proof!"_

"_Proof? Proof? Why don't we get some of the students in here to give testimony, or examine some grade reports! Do you really want to drag this up to state court, because"_

The secretary shut the door with a snap. Erik exchanged a fairly awestruck look with Charles.

"I think Ms. Munroe might be pissed at Shaw." Erik commented. Charles laughed faintly.

"You think? I just wonder how long they're going to keep us here." He sighed. "I'd rather just get it over with, and I need to get to class."

"You were trapped in a _closet_, they'll let you make it up." Charles shrugged.

Shaw's door was flung open. Ms. Munroe stalked through it, smiling in a way that reminded Erik of a lioness.

"Charles, you're being sent home for the day. Erik, I'm afraid you're dismissed for the day, and don't come back until the day after tomorrow." Ms. Munroe sighed and shook her head. "I'll write a note to your mother in addition to the form."

Oh, God. What was his mother going to say?

"What about Victor?" Charles asked.

"He won't be returning to this school." Ms. Munroe said, her eyes flashing.

* * *

><p>"Mama?" Erik opened the door to their apartment.<p>

"_Erik? What are you doing home?"_ His mother frowned at him from where she was putting groceries into the fridge. "_Help me with these."_

"_Yes Mama. I…_"Erik stepped forward and began unloading groceries. I was defending this guy I like but who doesn't want to date me against this asshole homophobe who locked him in a closet for two and a half hours. _"I got into a fight."_

"_You _what?_"_ His mother put down the carton of milk she'd been putting into the fridge and stared at him. _"Why?"_

"_There's this guy called Victor, and he's really a jerk to Charles. You remember Charles?"_ His mother nodded, her eyebrows creeping steadily up. _"Well, I got mad and punched him."_

"_So you were standing up for your friend?"_

"_Yeah. And Vic is just…there are no words."_ His mother sighed.

"_I can't say I like, but that's as good a reason to be in a fight as any."_ Erik let out a breath of relief. _"You can spend the rest of the day helping Ms. Pudds from next door. She needs to move her furniture, and hiring someone is dreadfully expensive these days."_

"_Yes Mama."_ Erik berated himself. He could just tell her that he was defending a guy he liked from a homophobe. Then he could just see if she was understanding about that. Which she might be, but why take the risk?

* * *

><p>Charles sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he stepped out of the stall. He'd checked all the boy's bathrooms near the gym, and so far his backpack was still missing. None of those jocks would bother actually taking any of his books, and he could replace most of them, but he <em>needed<em> his notes…

He rubbed his head and hurried out the door and down the hallway. There was only one other place he could think of which was both easily accessible from the locker room and good for the disposal of a fairly large object.

Charles stepped out the side door and sighed, contemplating the dumpster.

There really wasn't anything to do but go for it…Charles circled it, trying to avoid stepping in any of the more rancid trash. There really wasn't a clean space to climb up…he sighed and took off his sweater, tossing it onto the edge. The last thing he needed was to get cut on the edge of a dumpster.

He sighed and jumped up, catching his hands on the edge and pulling. His feet scrabbled against the side of the dumpster. Finally Charles managed to get an elbow over the top and haul himself, panting, up to peer into the morass of trash.

His books weren't on the surface. Charles stared at the muck, knowing that there was absolutely no way he was going to dive into a dumpster, even if his notes were somewhere within. He could recopy the parts from the textbook, and when the test came, maybe do some internet research. And pray.

Charles dropped down from the dumpster, scraping his knee against the side. He tugged his sweater off the top and walked back to his car, wishing that he had the energy to stop his shoulders from slumping.

He was almost to his car when he noticed the pile of books leaning against his bumper. Charles hurried forward, crouching down and thumbing through them. They were _his_. His binders all smelled funny, and one page of his history notes had spoiled milk all over it, but he could copy those over.

How on earth had these gotten there? Someone with considerably more agility than he must have fished them out…Charles got up and looked around the parking lot. It was deserted, of course. Everyone was in classes, and those people who weren't were smarter than to hang around the faculty parking lot.

Erik? No, he never had the chance.

"Well, thanks, whoever you are." Charles said softly. He got up and piled the books in the backseat, mentally figuring out how much time he had before it would be time to pick up Raven.

**A/N: Reviiiew? **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, YouthPride was today (or yesterday, since it's um, quite late/early now), and, it rocked. Even though for my school, the only people from our GSA who could make it were my friend and I, and everybody else had banners and actually knew what they were doing, whereas we were more like "Should we be checking in somewhere - Ooo, rainbows!", and luckily we found our way to our spot and tried to yell really loudly while we marched, to make up for our lack of representation. I got sunburned on my arms because the only purple thing in my house is a tank top and I didn't wear sunscreen because I clearly have no brain, and anyway there were rainbows and they read a proclamation from our governor from like, the 90s, about not discriminating against kids for being LGBTQ, and there were **_**so **_**many old people on the sidelines holding up signs about loving their LGBT grandchildren. The point of this ramble?**

**The whole time, I was imagining Charles and Erik there. My firstborn to anyone who draws/knows of a drawing of Charles and Erik at a Pride march. I don't care if it fits with HighSchool!Au or if they're old men or if they're at the first pride march ever back in the 60s/70s or whatever. **

**Also, thanks for reviews. My love goes to all of you.**

**Disclaimer: Own? X-Men? Me? If only, my dear.**

Erik walked down the hallway. He could feel the change in the air.

People weren't looking at him anymore. No, that wasn't really fair. Everyone was looking at him. They just weren't looking at him for very long, and whenever he looked back they dropped their eyes and started to whisper with whoever happened to be next to them.

"Erik!" Erik opened his locker and eyed Janos. "Dude."

"Yes?"

"Um, I heard you beat Vic up yesterday." Erik nodded. Janos coughed. "I um, heard a couple different reasons why."

"He's a homophobic asshole who locked Charles in a closet for two and a half hours, and insulted me several times." Janos nodded.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I'm behind you 100 percent." Janos set his shoulders. "No matter what, dude."

"You spent the last two years shoving Charles into a locker." Erik deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"And I bet Azazel is thrilled by this."

"I'll talk to Az." Janos sounded frustrated. "And if he doesn't like it, then he can deal on his own." Erik turned to Janos, his eyebrows raised. "He's my bro, but he can be an asshole. It gets old."

"…okay." Erik shrugged. "But if you push Charles into a locker again, I will kick your ass."

"Noted. So are you two going out now?" Janos asked. He grinned, though it was strained. "Cause that totally explains you breaking up with Emma. Also, I heard that Emma was pissed about being a beard."

"No, we're not." Erik growled. Janos studied his expression.

"If you want me to get you some alcohol and spike his drink…"

"_Janos._" Erik shook his head.

"Just saying." Janos shrugged. "In case you didn't hear, Vic got suspended for two weeks. If he starts any more trouble, he's going to be expelled."

"Excellent." Ha. Now _that_ was why he liked Ms. Munroe so much. Apart from the whole good at teaching thing. Erik had actually discovered that he enjoyed some of his classes if he stayed awake.

* * *

><p>It was sort of disturbing, how notorious one could become in less than twenty four hours. Erik had seen at least twenty students do double takes when they looked at him, and the whispering still hadn't died down.<p>

Seriously, his sexuality was not this freaking relevant to other people's lives.

"Hey Charles." Erik fell into step next to Charles. It was about lunch, and not only had he not seen Emma once, but none of the friends of Janos and Azazel who occasionally talked to him or said hi to him in the hallways had made eye contact with him. "Having a decent day?"

"Um, somewhat. I got to do some truly fascinating things in chemistry, and I quite enjoy the play we're reading in English. What about you?"

"Do teachers occasionally find it impossible to make eye contact with you also, or is this new thing just mine?" Charles winced.

"A couple."

"It's going to make lying about my homework so much easier." Charles rolled his eyes.

"_Erik._ Taking advantage of uneducated - "

"Fags." A guy coughed out as he brushed past them. Erik twisted around to glare. The guy went pale.

"Something to say?" Erik kept glaring, thankful to be many feet taller than the acne ridden twerp, who now looked like he really regretted opening his mouth. He seemed to sink down, sending a panicked look at his friends.

"No." Erik scowled down at him then turned back to Charles.

"Twerp." Charles laughed nervously. "Anyway, I absolutely have the right to take advantage of prejudice."

"That's certainly a novel way of looking at it." Charles sat down at his usual lunch table. Erik sat across from him. "You're sitting over here?"

"Probably should have started sitting with you ages ago. Besides, I doubt that Emma or Azazel wants to talk to me." Erik took out his sandwich. Charles began nibbling on something that looked store bought and gourmet. He kept an eye on the door to the cafeteria. Janos headed in, first going to the lunch line. Then he headed to them.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Janos asked awkwardly. Erik glanced at Charles.

"No, of course not." Charles pushed his binders to the side. Janos plopped down, offering Charles a strained smile.

"So, what up with you two?" Erik shrugged. Charles coughed and took out his history textbook. "Dude, you take AP Euro?"

"Yes." Charles nodded. Janos shot him an impressed look.

"I've heard it's a cool class." Charles smiled faintly. "Look, I swear I won't shove your sandwich down your shirt or anything. I mean, I'm sorry for being a jerk." Janos fumbled, his face heating up. "And the whole rumor thing last year. I just sort of, um, reacted." He paused. "This apology sucks."

"Don't worry about it." Charles shot him a genuine smile. "High school, social pressure, everyone is mean to each other."

"Okay." Janos looked relieved. Charles hesitated. "What?"

"Well, I just thought I should point out that sitting at the table with the only out gay kid in school is going to carry an impressive stigma. In case you didn't know." Janos shrugged, his cheeks burning.

"Sticking next to my bro. Plus…" Janos fiddled with his pizza. "I don't want to graduate next year and look back from college, and realize that I was basically a douche bag. It's not what I want to be, you know?"

"I doubt anyone wakes up in the morning and resolves to be a horrible person." Charles reflected. Erik watched Janos's sad puppy face turn even more guilty.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't put it past Shaw." Erik said. Anything to relieve the tension. Janos and Charles both looked extremely grateful to have something else to talk about.

"Dude, I know. Did you hear that he cut the budget for school lunches?" He picked at the pizza. Erik leaned over the table to get a better look at it, and grimaced. How Janos maintained a perfect complexion while consuming that much grease was beyond him. He spared a moment to be grateful to his mother and her ability to make dinner the perfect size for Erik to have the leftovers as lunch.

"Shaw will get his comeuppance." Charles spoke with utter conviction. "One of these days, he's going to do something like take tater tots off the lunch menu, and the students will riot."

"He had _better_ not." Janos said darkly. "Tater tots are the best part of my Fridays."

"Didn't he also cut the arts budget?" Erik asked. He took a bite of sandwich.

"Yeah. Apparently, we used to have pottery classes." Janos morosely poked at the pizza.

"You want my sandwich?" Charles offered. "I'm not hungry."

"You sure?" Janos asked. Charles passed it over. Janos took a bite. "Oh my God, this is heavenly."

"…it's really just a sandwich." Erik nudged Charles. Azazel had just walked into the cafeteria. Janos caught sight of him and froze, but kept chewing. Azazel also paused, shifting from foot to foot. Erik saw his eyes dart around the cafeteria.

"Dudes." Azazel walked over and sat down. "Sup?"

"Not much." Janos replied. Charles kept his eyes trained on the textbook. Janos twitched.

"Ow!" Azazel snapped. He glared at Janos. "What the hell was that for? Ow!"

"Apologize!" Janos hissed. Charles swallowed.

"You really don't have to…"

"Yes, he does." Erik said flatly. Janos nodded emphatically.

"Fine. I'm sorry." Azazel muttered.

"Sorry for what?" Janos prompted. Azazel rolled his eyes.

"Calling you names." Janos stared at him. "And pushing you into lockers. And throwing your textbooks into the gutter. And slapping your books out of your hand. And…" Azazel trailed off. "Shit."

He suddenly looked deeply uncomfortable. Charles smiled dryly.

"It does rather add up." Azazel shifted his weight uncomfortably. Erik glared at him.

"Sorry. Seriously." Azazel's cheeks flushed. Charles shrugged. "Um, I really don't hate you."

"I'd gathered as much." Charles sighed. "Don't worry about it. It's really not that big a deal."

"Okay." Azazel reached across Janos and pulled the lunch tray over. "Dude, you eating this?"

"Nah. Charles let me have his sandwich." Janos took another enormous bite. Azazel looked uncomfortable.

"In case you were wondering, homosexuality cannot be transmitted through food." Charles said lightly. Azazel scowled.

"I know." He began eating Janos's pizza. "Did anyone catch the game last night?"

"No." Erik said. He wasn't actually sure what sport was in season right now. Charles shook his head. Janos shrugged sheepishly. "Really? Not even you, Janos?"

"I had other stuff on my mind." Janos finished the sandwich. Azazel made a noise of disgust.

"Hey." Erik nodded to another table. "Emma's on her own."

"Really?" Janos peered around. True, Emma was alone at her table, her legs crossed and her eyes fixed to a binder. Her hair was loose, and hung at an angle that concealed her face. "Huh."

"Poor Emma." Charles said. He glanced at them. "Shouldn't one of us offer her a seat?"

"No." Azazel shook his head. "No way. Having her ex boyfriend declare himself g, um, gay was humiliating enough dude, she's not going to want an invitation to breathe the same air as him."

"She's popular." Erik said flatly. "If she wanted someone sitting with her, she'd have someone."

* * *

><p>"So, have any plans after school?" Erik asked.<p>

"Pick Raven up, do homework, study." Charles recited. He smiled faintly. "Need homework help?"

"Not really." Erik had found that buying earplugs to drown out the noise when his neighbors had parties helped him stay awake in class and, once he was caught up, most of these things weren't actually that hard. And studying helped. "But um…" Erik glared at a gaggle of freshman who were watching him. "Fuck off."

"Erik, language. They're fourteen."

"They look twelve." Erik scowled.

"And that doesn't deter you from foul language?" Erik grunted. "Had a rough day?" Charles sounded sympathetic. Erik shrugged.

"A bit." It was just disconcerting, having people muttering about him. Erik was quite cheerful about being feared, but not of people having an actual _phobia_ of him. Or having a circle of space miraculously clear around him whenever a teacher said anything about group work. "And my Mom isn't exactly clued in, so I don't want to talk to her about any of this."

And knowing his mother, all Erik had to do was walk into the house for her to know that he'd had a rough day and ask about it, and then Erik would have to lie, which would suck.

"Raven will be delighted to have you around." Charles smiled at him. Erik realized, with sinking heart, that regardless of issues he needed to work through, that smile was still the most wonderful thing he'd ever set eyes on. "She keeps asking me when you're next coming over."

"Huh." Erik followed Charles out to his car. "That's flattering."

"It should be. I think you've replaced Batman as her favorite ever male person." Erik arched his eyebrows at Charles. "Oh no, I don't count. I'm family."

"I guess that works." Erik got into the car. "I can live with being a live-action batman. Speaking of which, how on earth did a five year old end up watching The Dark Knight?" Charles rolled his eyes.

"Failure on my part. We apparently have a vintage comics collection in the library, and she found them." Charles shook his head. "I confisticated most of them. Far too much violence and cleavage."

"Under most circumstances, I would disagree with censorship, but in this case…" Erik snickered. "I can only guess what she was getting from those."

"That it's normal to make 'kapow' noises whenever someone moves, according to her teachers." Charles sighed. He got out of the car, shooting Erik a smile over the top. "At least she hasn't decided to start trying to leap tall buildings in single bounds."

"I think she could achieve that if she set her mind on it." Erik frowned at the usual mob of students and small children. "Shouldn't there be more people outside?"

"Oh _shit_." Charles muttered. "I forgot."

"What?"

"Brace yourself." Charles pushed his way forward, navigating the crowd of small people as he headed to the lobby. "This tends to get, um, intense."

"It's an _elementary school…_Charles?" Erik had to dive past two sweater wearing Moms and a Soccer Dad to not lose sight of Charles. The lobby was as crowded as it had been on a rainy day, only this time there were more adults because people seemed to be lingering.

Erik, after dodging through the Parental Figures in pursuit of Charles (whose shortness had suddenly become an advantage), until they got to the opposite side. On this side of the lobby were five tables. Upon each were baked goods.

"Sorry Moira." Charles had miraculously made his way to Moira, who was manning the cash register. Her hands blurred as she made change. "I completely forgot that this was today, I should have sent something in with Raven."

"Oh, it's no trouble." Moira reached around Charles to take five dollars off a plump brunette. "We have more than enough food. Thank you, Mrs. McCoy."

"Why, Charles!" Mrs. McCoy, who Erik was guessing was the mother of Raven's friend Hank, beamed at Charles. "It seems like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I've been busy with my studies, ma'am." Charles apologized with his eyes to Erik. Mrs. McCoy's eyes slid over to Erik.

"And this must be Erik!" Erik tried not to be creeped out. She giggled in an un-momish way at his expression. "My son, Hank, is friends with Raven, and she's told Hank quite a bit about you."

"Oh." Erik looked past her to Charles. Charles was still apologizing silently. "Er, she's a great kid. Hank sounds nice."

"Charles, don't you move. I have to fetch Ms. Drake and Ms. Pryde, they've just been dying to talk to you." Mrs. McCoy shot another speculative look at Erik and disappeared with her load of banana bread. Charles eased himself over to Erik.

"Sorry." Charles winced.

"You have a secret harem of Moms, don't you." Charles laughed.

"Well, no. But I see them whenever there's a school function, and they seem…attached to me." Charles shook his head. "I'm an honorary book club member."

"Should we escape now while she finds the others?" Erik asked.

"Erik, that would be rude!" Charles sighed. "Besides, they're coming."

"Right." Erik shifted over to Charles as Mrs. McCoy, plus several other women, bulled their way through the crowd over to Charles and he.

"Hello." Ms. Pryde, a young woman attired in a suitably momish white blouse and jeans stuck out her hand. "You must be Erik."

Oh, this was getting extraordinarily strange. Erik shook her hand, choosing not to give in to temptation and squeeze her harder than she was gripping him.

"Charles, you haven't told us much about him." Mrs. Drake smiled at Charles in a way that Erik really didn't like.

"Well, what Charles hasn't told you is that we're running on a schedule here - his Mom has a package coming at 3, and he'll have to sign for it. Sorry to leave you. Come on Charles." Erik steered Charles away, going in a random direction.

"Thank you." Charles muttered to him. "They're all lovely women, but…"

"Understood. Where's Raven?" There had been several kids at the table (all closely supervised), but Erik hadn't spotted her curls among them.

"Classroom. Large crowds are very much not Raven's scene." Charles walked down the hallway (which Erik felt looked strangely empty without lockers), looking embarrassed. "I really am sorry about the bake sale. If I'd remembered that it was going to be that crowded, I would have picked her up early."

"Charles. Don't worry about it." Erik did his best to smile reassuringly and ignore the happy feelings in his chest when Charles smiled at him. "So, Raven's not fond of parties?"

"She tried to lock herself in a bathroom at the last bake sale." Charles shook his head. "It was my fault."

"Enlighten me as to how that train of logic worked." Charles looked like he regretted his words.

"Nothing. I just managed to unintentionally teach her that leaving when things made her uncomfortable transmitted to fleeing to a bathroom." Charles pushed open a classroom door, while Erik wondered with some amusement which bodily functions had led to that particular lesson. "Raven?"

"_Erik!_" Raven scrambled up from where she had been sitting in the corner, making a tower with another kid. She had her arms wrapped around Erik's kneecaps before Erik was aware she had moved.

"Thanks, darling." Charles said, clearly amused. "I can see where I rank."

"Hi Charles." Raven detached herself enough to peer at Charles. "Can I finish the tower?"

Charles glanced at Erik. Erik shrugged. It wasn't as if he was in a hurry to get anywhere.

"Sure." Raven squeezed Erik's knees.

"Erik, come look at my tower." Erik found himself being dragged to a corner by a five year, and plopped down on a rug while Raven finished building a block tower. A nerdy looking boy with huge glasses and light brown hair, who was clearly too paralyzed by shyness in the presence of Erik to actually speak, kept it from falling over. Charles fetched Raven's things, exchanged words with the teacher who was watching all the kids who had elected to stay inside, and eventually got the two of them moving.

By that time, Raven was hungry, and then ended up hanging out in the ridiculously expensive Café while Charles muttered about Erik being obnoxious for actually bringing his own baked goods. Erik's point that he was only supporting Raven's school didn't convince Charles, who ended up leaving a tip that was more than what his coffee had cost.

Erik's mother was wise enough to do anything but smile when Erik got home and handed her a home-made cupcake and avoided saying anything about school.

**A/N: Hey, do you know what time it is? About 5:45 am. I haven't gone to sleep yet, because I had a moment of inspiration and I desperately wanted to get another chapter out for you all because I love you. But I also have shit to do today that requires an actual brain.**

…**so review, please? So I have a bright beacon in my mind to bend my thoughts around so I don't fall asleep?**

**Ps: Charles is totes friends with all of Raven's friends' Moms (because even in a HighSchool!Au he cannot escape his mothering instincts and other Moms understand it and flock to him and also he is adorable)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So, I'm really sorry this is so late, but I got flagged.**

**Yeah. I actually got **_**flagged**_** and was restricted from posting for like a week. And it was for a story that's been up for like, 2 years, and had like 42 reviews, and I didn't even get a warning, and it was because my summary wasn't G-rated. I'm over it now, but not gonna lie, I was sort of miffed, because it was my attempt at BenedictCumberbatch!Master, and I liked it, even it was wasn't perfect, and again, it had quite a few reviews for a fic with only one chapter, and I got pretty consistent story alert/favorite emails about it, and so yeah. I guess I just would have appreciated a warning.**

***crosses fingers and hopes that Admin doesn't read this and decide to throw me off the site forever because my God, what did I live for before I wrote fan fiction?***

**But yes, that threw off my writing a bit. But it was okay because I couldn't post anyway. And now I'm hiding upstairs because there are **_**people in my house other than my parents**_** and if I go from my room I'll have to talk to them. So I decided I would finish my chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own XMFC, or any of the actors affiliated, and I certainly don't own high school. **

"Charles." Erik sat down at their lunch table, staring at the brunette next to him.

"Er, yes?" Charles stopped nibbling on his croissant and looked up from his textbook.

"You turned me into a nerd." Charles blinked at him. Erik pulled his latest test paper out of his bag and passed it over. Charles grinned.

"Erik, that's fantastic!"

"My mother thinks you walk on water." Charles raised his eyebrows.

"You do realize that this is in math? I don't tutor you in math anymore, Erik." Charles smiled slightly as he took another small bite of sandwich.

"Huh." Erik began unwrapping his lunch. "Attend any wild parties this weekend?"

"Me, my five year old sister, and a dozen stuffed animals had this tea party, and we almost got the police called on us. It was intense." Charles rolled his eyes. Erik's lips twitched. "And yourself?"

"Not much." Charles closed his textbook and put his chin in his hands. "I um, sat in a park and watched guys walk by."

"…really?" Charles put a hand over his mouth. It didn't muffle the sound of his giggles. Erik watched as Charles slowly turned pink.

"It isn't that amusing."

"I'm sorry Erik." Charles giggled. "But most people would buy a magazine, or I don't know, forge some ID and get into a gay bar, but you choose to sit in a park for…how long were you there?"

"…a few hours." Charles dissolved into more laughter.

"What's so funny?" Janos sat down.

"Our lack of a life." Erik grumbled. Janos shook his head.

"Pathetic. You need to join a club." Janos opened his milk. "So those of us with lives don't have to listen to you moan."

"I'm sorry Janos, when was the last time the football team won a game?" Erik retorted.

"This weekend." Janos smirked. "We _annihilated_ English High. 26-6." He took a bite of something Erik assumed was a mutated chicken, somehow making the action smug. "So yeah, your argument is now invalid."

"Congratulations." Charles said quietly. "How many more games do you need to win this season?"

"Dude…" Janos laughed. "You have no idea how sports work do you?" Charles shrugged. "We're not making States this year, even if every other game in the season goes like that. It's too late."

"It's never too late." Azazel sat down. "Never."

"He's lying." Janos said. "It's really too late."

"Not if we blow up Monument High's field and kill off the starting lineup for Jefferson." Azazel said stubbornly.

"You've thought this out way too much." Erik muttered.

"No, it's a solid plan." Azazel dragged out a notebook. "See, Monument High sucks just as much as we do, except they have a proper field to practice on, instead of a crappy soccer field. If we take that from them, they will fall. And Jefferson, which is leading, is actually good - "

"They shut us out when we played them." Janos interjected.

"So we have to take them completely out of the running." Azazel ignored Janos. "Then, as long as we keep playing like we did last game, we can rise up to the State championships, at which point we're so high on momentum we destroy the competition and become the champions we were born to be."

"He stole half of that from Coach's last pep talk." Janos added. "And even Coach knows last game was a fluke."

"It was not." Azazel glared at Janos.

"The only people who don't think it was a fluke are the freshmen." Janos rolled his eyes. "I can't even count the number of little brats who've run up to me during breaks to ask if it's too late in the season to join the team."

"You could use them as bait." Erik suggested. "To lure out all those other teams you need to murder."

"_Erik_." Charles put down his lunch. "You can't just kill off innocent freshmen."

"Technically, it would be the team killing them." Janos looked a bit uncomfortable. "Coach would probably be in the bus humming and pretending not to see."

"Yeah." Azazel plucked one of Janos's fries off the tray. Janos failed at batting his hand away. Both of them managed to look outstandingly awkward.

"What's your problem?" Erik frowned at the both of them.

"Um…" Janos shifted.

"Coach doesn't want you on the team anymore." Azazel said flatly. "Since you're on the wrong team."

"For the record, we don't share that opinion at all." Janos said quickly. Azazel didn't say anything.

"Well, thank God." Erik took another bite of sandwich, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. "I never wanted to be on the football team anyway."

* * *

><p>"You want to hang out after school?" Charles asked. Erik found it strangely comforting that this time it was Charles standing next to his locker asking.<p>

"Sure." Erik glared at his locker and yanked the lock once again. "As soon as I get this open."

"Should I ask Azazel or Janos to come help you?"

"Laugh at my pain. Fine." Erik rolled his eyes. "You cruel, cruel, little being."

"Did you just mock my _height?_" Erik began to laugh. Charles sniffed. "There are several thousands of short people who conquered the world."

"I wouldn't advise comparing yourself to Napoleon." Erik grinned.

"What are we doing?" Janos popped up on Erik's other side.

"Mocking Charles's height."

"Mocking Erik's inability to open his locker."

"Aww. Would you like some help, little non athletic one?" Erik eyed Janos. "Or not. Let's focus on height."

"You two are just…" Charles went pale as Erik opened his locker.

"What the hell?" Erik blinked at the paper chain that had just fallen onto his hands. It looked like something a kindergartner would make. Except that there was ketchup splattered on it.

"I don't get it." Janos cocked his head.

Erik was wondering whether all the ketchup had gotten on his textbooks when Janos reached down and picked a note off the floor, also ketchup spattered.

"I think this was with it…" Erik took the note.

_Faggots and their friends don't belong in school_

"Oh. I guess the ketchup is supposed to be blood, then." Erik said, as lightheartedly as he could. Janos's expressions went almost immediately from somewhat bewildered to nauseous. Erik tried to ignore the funny sinking feeling in his stomach that was starting up again.

"Sorry." Charles shifted. "I guess I should have warned you about that."

"Warned?" Erik shoved the note and the paper chain into his backpack.

"Yeah. I get that sort of thing all the time." Charles smiled in a sickly way. "Don't worry about it. No one ever follows through with the really bad threats."

"Ah." Erik yanked out his necessary textbook and slammed the locker door shut.

"Dude." Janos swallowed. "At least it's not that bad. Right?"

"Course not." Erik slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Dumbasses and their ketchup packets don't scare me."

"Hey, Janos!" Azazel walked past them, snagging Janos's elbow. "Football practice. Come on."

"Coming." Janos took a step away. "I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"You got it."

"Bye."

Erik watched Azazel drag Janos down the hallway. Charles began heading for the door at a trot. Erik hurried to keep up with him.

"So, how often does that happen to you?"

"What?" Charles got into his car.

"Threatening things being put in your locker."

"Oh, not that often. I mean, I get them every now and then, but…" Charles shrugged. "Honestly, I think it's what happens when people get bored. After all, did you see the quality of that paper chain? Shoddy at best."

"Heh." Erik stared out the window.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'd forgotten what your first locker comment is like." Charles sighed.

"How do you deal with it?" Erik glanced at Charles. "I think that my method of punching things might not work too well here."

"I focus on the fact that I'm leaving in a few months. Also, books. And um, Raven." Charles smiled faintly. "It's a bit selfish, but I do like having someone around who will shriek with joy to see me regardless of my sexuality."

"Oh." Erik switched his gaze back to the window. "It's just weird. I was ready to get shoved around, not to get weird little notes."

"Well…" Charles hesitated. "Erik, you're like six feet tall, and you took down the biggest brute at Lincoln. People aren't stupid enough to try anything physical with you. At least, I hope to God no one is."

"Huh." Erik sighed.

"Ah, Erik?" Charles looked a bit squeamish, as if something had just occurred to him. "Is your phone number listed?"

"Probably?" That really wasn't something Erik thought about much. It wasn't like anyone ever called the landline. "Why?"

"You might start getting calls." Charles swallowed.

"_Calls?_"

"Um, yes. Same people who put notes in lockers. I um, just thought I should give you a warning, since your phone is in your kitchen and your mother seems to generally be closer to it than you, and I'm guessing that you don't want her picking that up." Charles coughed. "If you need instructions for who to call to get a new number, I can send them to you."

"Yeah, thanks." Except that his Mom would need to know why they were changing the phones. And her room was right next to the phone, there was no way he was going to be able to guard it.

Shit.

"Erik?"

"Shit." Erik twitched. "I'm going to have to give her some sort of excuse…"

Double shit. He hated lying to his mom and more importantly, he sucked at it. Triple shit.

"Erik?" Charles asked cautiously.

"How did you um, come out to your mom?" Erik asked. Charles shrugged.

"Ah, rather badly. I told her during dinner and didn't make eye contact with her through the whole thing, and she didn't really react to it." Charles glanced at him. "Are you going to…"

"I can't keep her from answering the phone at all times." And not talking to her about anything that went on at school or anything that was actually going on with him felt like lying but sneakier. "Can you just drop me off by a bus stop? I um, want to think this through."

"Sure." Charles hesitated. "Call me afterward and tell me how it went."

"Will do."

* * *

><p>"Damn."<p>

"What happened? Did another of the slacker students give you the cougar look?" Jean Grey couldn't think of many other reasons for her friend stalking into the nurse's office, swearing, and immediately start rooting around for aspirin.

"First of all, I am not old enough to be classified as a cougar." Ororo held up a finger. "Not _nearly_ old enough. And no. I think the jackass population has suffered since they lost their ringleader."

"Oh good." Jean pulled a bottle of aspirin from her pocket and tossed it to Ororo. Ororo caught it and made a grateful noise. "So, what happened?"

"Thanks." Ororo sighed and shook her head. "It's Charles."

"Oh." Jean winced and sat down at her desk. "You didn't get a chance to talk to him?"

"No." Ororo leaned against the desk and dry swallowed a few pills. "He _bolted _out of my classroom today. At least Lensherr isn't failing anymore. Not that I don't have a few new concerns on that account."

"It's ridiculous that Shaw blocks us whenever we try to set up a pflag chapter here." Jean scowled. "Next time he comes to me for aspirin, I'm selecting a drug at random and mixing it with alcohol."

"_Jean_." Ororo had to laugh. "That hardly solves our problem." She quickly sobered. "You should have seen that bruise, and the way he flinched when I noticed. I don't think a member of the track team could have gotten out of the room faster than he did."

"You could ask…"

"I'm going to see if he can spare some time to go investigate. We're going out tonight, I can ask him then." Jean smiled slightly.

"I hate to just go running to the males, but…" Jean shook her head. "Seeing as our wonderful boss hasn't given us a proper contact at CPS, and I'd rather talk to someone we know, I guess it's the best option."

"In absence of such a trustworthy person as the school should be providing us with, the police will do." Ororo smiled grimly.

* * *

><p>Erik's leg was shaking and he couldn't get it to stop. He was also unfortunately sure that he was sweating all over his textbook and leaving smudges on his homework. Dammit.<p>

"_Erik?" _He jumped as his mother touched his shoulder. _"You barely touched your dinner."_

"_Not really hungry." _He stared at her hands as she picked up the plate. What if she never spoke to him again?

"_I don't want you waking up at four in the morning and rummaging through the fridge for food." _Erik's mom said severely. It occurred to Erik that his Mom had probably yelled at him maybe five times in his whole life, and usually for doing things like running into the street. He wondered if this qualified on that level of bad.

"_I won't." _

"_Good." _His mother frowned and pressed her hand to his forehead. _"Are you feeling sick?"_

"_No, I'm not sick. I think." _Erik swallowed.

"_If you are, go to bed. I know you've gotten that newfound dedicated to schoolwork, and believe me, I support it 100 percent, but I don't want you making yourself sick." _She tutted. _"I wish you slept more."_

"I've just had a lot of stuff on my mind." Erik mumbled. There was no way he could go through with this. No way in hell.

"_Hmm." _She padded out into the kitchen, and soon Erik heard the sound of water running, then the clink of dishware.

"_You want help with the dishes?" _He called into the kitchen.

"_Yes, thank you." _Erik walked in and accepted the towel he was handed. "You dry."

"_Yes Mama." _Erik began wiping dishes.

"_Dear, is there anything you want to talk about?" _His mother asked. Erik could hear the worry in her voice.

"_No. Actually, yes." _Erik took a deep breath.

_Don't screw this up. Don't screw this up. Don't screw this up._

"_Do you remember Charles?"_

"_Yes, of course. Is he okay?"_

"_Yeah. This um, isn't actually about him, it's more about me, but he was sort of involved." _Erik made slightly gulping noise in his throat, and tried to make proper eye contact. "I'm _gay. And it really isn't something I can change or that I chose, believe me, so disinheriting me would be really unfair."_

"_Erik." _He realized that his mother looked, if anything, a bit amused. _"Dear, idiot, boy. Of course I'm not disinheriting you, or kicking you out of your home. You are my son, and the fact that I love you will not be impacted by who you date."_

"_You're not mad?" _Muscles Erik hadn't even known he was clenching were loosening up.

"_Why on earth would I be? I'm just proud that you had the courage to finally tell me." _She stepped forward and hugged him. Erik hugged back tighter than he could remember hugging anyone in ages, blinking rapidly.

"_Wait, finally?" _Erik tried to get the choked up sound of his throat.

"_Dear, I am your mother. It's my job to understand you before you understand yourself." _Erik let go of her, still absolutely not sniffling at all. His mother handed him a tissue anyway.

"_Thanks."_

"_Think nothing of it." _She smiled at him. _"Really Erik, I thought you were going to tell me you had bubonic plague or that someone had died."_

"_No. Just um, me." _Erik flushed. _"That guy I got into a fight with was um, also correlated with being gay."_

"_Hmpf." _His mother frowned. _"He was harassing Charles, correct - who, I assume, is also gay?"_

"_Yeah. I got um, really mad about it. He was being unbelievable." _

His mother picked up the plate she had been washing and resumed soaping it. _"I applaud you for making a stand Erik. Are you and Charles dating now?"_

"_No." _Erik muttered. _"And thanks."_

"_Hmm. Well, thank him for me for helping you in whatever ways he has."_ Erik blinked, suddenly remembering.

"_He wanted me to call him, just in case…" _Erik's mother smiled at him.

"_Go."_

* * *

><p>Charles was reading a story to Raven when his cellphone buzzed.<p>

"Raven? Sweetheart, you're going to have to give me a second."

"Mmhmm." She was half asleep anyway. Charles hurried into her bathroom and shut the door, opening his phone.

"Erik?"

"I have the best mother in the universe." Charles laughed.

"It went well then?"

"I think that if we owned a car, she would be sticking a rainbow bumper sticker on it." Charles couldn't stop smiling.

"Erik, that's fantastic."

"But I also have to finish drying the dishes. See you in school tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." Charles listened to the dial tone for a few moments, just letting the feeling of relief spread through him. He loved happy endings. Or middles, as it were.

**A/N: I will be a fan of Edie Lensherr forever. In my mind, she is the embodiment of all that is good. I mean, in the movie she stayed calm and tried to reassure her kid while a gun was being pointed at her head, she could certainly handle Erik being in love with Charles. I actually have 5000 modernday!aus in my head where she shoves them at each other and declares that Erik has to get married now because she finally found him his perfect husband, and demands that they give her grandchildren.**

**Also, review? Please?**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Holy. Fuck. You people broke the 200 review mark. I just…I love you all, okay? I don't respond to reviews because I have a crapload of schoolwork all the time, and so I hope that you guys read these authors notes, because I just am continually overwhelmed with emotion when I read the reviews and I just really love you all. (And I am most sorry for not updating sooner. Finals happened. It wasn't pretty. That combined with losing my notebook containing all my notes…I think I left it at school, and it's all full of notes about various slashy fanfiction, and I'm a bit scared for whoever finds it. But yeah, that had about seven pages minimum of notes on this story, and now they're gone, and it was a bit tough to recover from that.)**

**Also: Nicky9doors (cool name, dude/dudette) asked about what parts of this were based off my high school experience, and I shall answer now because I suck at getting back to reviews and for all I know other people are curious. Um, I did get bullied quite a bit in middle school (lots of memories of eating lunch in a teacher's classroom because I desperately didn't want to go into the cafeteria, and walking around literally reading a book as I walked so I didn't have to interact with anyone), and definitely Charles's occasional anxiety about his grades. Also, I'm bi, and I had to come out to my parents and friends (Erik did it better than I did - I told my best friend in the middle of the cafeteria and my parents while in the back of a moving car. Both times the reaction was: Whatever makes you happy), so I know how worrying that can be. And the general boring classes, feeling like an idiot because you understand nothing, not fitting in with people, dealing with all the nasty people that for some reason other people like…that's about it. Hope it satisfactorily answered your question =)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own MARVEL or any affiliated products. K? K. And I don't own a battered Latin dictionary either because I hurled it into a trash can with great aplomb, since I never have to translate any of that horrid language ever again. Except when creating spells for Merlin fan fiction, and that's what the internet is for.**

…**I may be unreasonably happy about not having to take Latin anymore. Ignore me.**

_hy ur going to die from aids_

Erik cocked his head to the side. It looked almost like half the note had been torn away, which would explain the lack of a complete sentence. He had become used to the bad grammar - it seemed as though none of their anonymous classmates should have passed freshman English.

"What are you looking at?" Charles asked.

"I think it's supposed to be harassment." Erik snickered. "The quality of the threats is going down, I must say."

"It tends to do so." Erik frowned at Charles. He didn't sound well at all. In fact, Charles was tapping one of his binders with his fingers and seemed to be worrying the inside of his cheek.

"Are you okay?"

"I ah…" Charles tapped faster.

"Apparently not." Erik shifted so he was between Charles and the flow of people in the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"I have a chemistry test today. An _important_ test, and no one told me about it, and I have absolutely no idea when it was assigned but apparently it happened, so I also have no idea what's going to be on it, and I really cannot afford for my GPA to slip, but no way will this have any kind of positive impact and so goodbye Oxford." Charles took a short breath. "And I don't have a single study period before then, and I don't have any friends in my chemistry class anyway so no one will tell me what material it covers."

"Charles. Breathe." Charles took a deep breath. "Relax."

"I'm going to _fail_." Charles whimpered.

"You know everything there is to know about advanced placement chemistry. Chill." Erik reached out and rubbed Charles's shoulder. Charles blushed. "You'll ace it, and go to Oxford. Just keep…breathing." Charles took another deep breath. "Without hyperventilating."

"Right." Charles let out a shaky breath. "Sorry. I'm kind of stressed."

"Do you want to go talk to Ms. Munroe or - "

"_No_." Charles said quickly. Erik frowned.

"Or Nurse Grey? She could give you a quiet space or whatever." Charles shook his head, his lips pressed together. "If you're sure…" Charles looked pretty faint. In Erik's opinion, a few hours to sleep would do the boy a world of good.

"I'm sure." Charles closed his eyes. "Sorry."

"You really need to get away from school for awhile." Erik said. Charles smiled wearily.

"I like school."

"Fair enough. But after you ace your chemistry test, which you will" Charles smiled slightly "how about I drag you and your little sister to the park? To do non school related things?"

"That would be nice." Charles's cheeks colored. Erik reminded himself that this was in no way a date, at all. He quickly withdrew his hand from Charles's shoulder, where it had apparently decided to rest. Stupid hand.

"Hey lovebirds." Azazel appeared next to them.

"We're not dating." Erik snapped at him. Azazel raised his hands.

"Whatever. Anyway, Janos is looking for you." Erik opened his mouth. "Actually, he wants the short one. Not sure why." Azazel vanished back into the hallway of students.

"You want me to distract Janos?" Erik offered. Charles really did not seem in a fit state to be bothered by anyone, though he did look a lot better than he had a few minutes ago. Charles shrugged.

"I'll be fine."

"Right." Erik nodded slowly. "I'll just stand here and look intimidating and you can signal me if you want him to die."

"_Erik_." Charles laughed.

"Charles!" Janos called from across the hall. He bounded up to Charles and fell to his knees. "Charles. Wonderful, glorious, intelligent, Charles."

Erik glared at him. "What the hell do you want?"

"An explanation of the passive periphrastic." Janos got to his feet. "I have a quiz in" He checked his watch "twelve minutes, and I have no idea what it is. I took Latin because I thought it would be about gladiators and I was mistakenly informed that knowing Spanish meant it would be an easy course. Romance languages are all from Latin my ass."

"I have notes on it." Charles looked incredibly amused. He rooted through his backpack for a second and then pulled out an enormous binder. "You're lucky I still have these, I keep meaning to throw them out."

"Throw them out?" Janos flipped through the binder. "Dude, this is…this is _gold_."

"What is it?" Erik craned his neck to look at the contents.

"Just my notes from when I took Latin."

"And you had them in your backpack?"

"Raven took it upon herself to load up my backpack yesterday." Charles sighed. "It was a sweet gesture, but she essentially took everything on my desk and crammed it all in, and I didn't have time yesterday to figure out what I needed and what I didn't."

"You are the single best person to ever exist in the history of existence, and if I can ever pay you back for letting me look at this, I will." Janos stared at the page, clearly trying to memorize whatever it said.

"Just take it." Charles said. "You can give it back to me at lunch."

"My firstborn to you, Xavier." Janos hurried off to his homeroom, glued to the binder. Erik rolled his eyes.

"Moron." Charles nudged him.

"Be nice." Erik snorted. He would be 'nice' when Janos wasn't being annoying.

"I should get to homeroom. Don't stress about your test, okay?"

"I'll try." Charles sighed. Erik clapped him on the shoulder. It was meant to be reassuring, but Charles flinched, and Erik quickly withdrew his hand. "Don't…I just have a bruise there."

"What happened?" Erik peered at the sweater covered appendage.

"Nothing." Charles said. He tugged his bag over the other shoulder. "Come on. I don't want you to be late."

* * *

><p>"How was your chem test?" Erik asked, the second he sat down at their lunch table. Charles was leafing through a book and sipping what looked like tea out of a thermos. Janos was eating and trying to read Charles's book upside down.<p>

"Stressful." Charles shook his head. "I barely finished the essay portion."

"How do you write essays in _chemistry_?" Charles snorted.

"You don't want to know. But at least it's over." He glanced down. "I'm sorry for freaking out this morning. If you have other things to do today than take my little sister and I out…"

"I actually don't." Erik flashed him a grin. Charles smiled back.

"I'm sorry, what was anyone saying about anything?" Azazel slammed his textbook onto the lunch table. For someone who normally made almost no noise when he entered, it was shocking. Janos choked on his milk, Erik raised his eyebrows, and Charles nearly jumped out of his seat.

"We weren't." Erik deadpanned.

"Well, that's good. Because what I have to say trumps it." Azazel took a deep breath. "Janos and I made the basketball team."

"Seriously?" Janos asked. He raised his hand for a high five. Charles winced at the crack their hands made. "I thought they weren't posting the notifications until Friday?"

"I asked coach." Azazel snickered. "According to him, we are his star players and it would be the stupidest thing ever to not put us as first string."

"And he phrased it that way?" Erik asked dryly.

"No, I believe the words he used were more along the lines of 'the only hint of competency in a sea of mediocrity', but it's my story so shut up." Azazel grinned. "Amigo, we are _in!_"

"Cool." Janos looked thrilled. "This day rocks."

"You did well on the quiz then?" Charles asked. Janos nodded, looking exuberant.

"Above ninety. I got a homework pass."

"You nerd." Azazel rolled his eyes. "You have to stay after with me in the gym today, we're working on jump shots."

"How the hell do you have basketball practice when the season hasn't started?" Erik demanded.

"We don't." Azazel nabbed a fry off Janos's tray. "_But_, my jump shot needs work and Janos is good at it, and we're going to have a successful basketball season if I have to chop the legs off every person at English High."

"Works for me." Janos tossed Azazel a packet of ketchup. "I am not bailing you out of jail when you get caught, just so we're clear."

"Please." Azazel sniffed. "We won't get caught."

"_We?_" Janos looked perturbed. Azazel slung an arm around his shoulders.

"My little friend, you'll be holding them down." He began to noogie Janos. Erik glanced at Charles and took comfort in the fact that Charles was also staring at them as if counting the brain cells they were losing.

"Az! That's my hair!" Janos scrambled away.

"My God, you are so freaking gay." Azazel grumbled. Erik glared at him. "Um. No offense to present company."

"None taken." Charles sighed and slid his bookmark into his book. "Azazel, I have to ask, when do you ever find time for your schoolwork?"

"After practice." Azazel said immediately. "And in homeroom."

"He copies off me." Janos supplied. Azazel punched his arm.

"For your information, I am _awesome_ at math. I do not need to copy." Janos made an incredulous noise.

"You do realize that you take five other subjects?" Erik inquired. Azazel shrugged.

"This is why he captains sports teams." Janos said in a long suffering tone. "He doesn't have the brains to do anything else."

"I've noticed." Erik said. Charles muffled a laugh in his sleeve.

"Is it just Abuse Az day?" Azazel asked.

"_Always_." Janos replied.

"Well I don't see abuse Erik day, or abuse Emma day - "

"That's because I enjoy living." Janos said cheerfully. Azazel glared at him and stole another fry. Charles rolled his eyes and opened his book again, and Erik refocused on his lunch.

* * *

><p>"You stole my boyfriend."<p>

First the bruise, then the chem test, and now this. This day's spiral of awful was almost complete.

"I beg your pardon, Emma?" Charles sighed and turned to Emma Frost. She stood with one hip cocked, arms crossed over her chest, and long blonde hair drawn into an impeccable ponytail. Charles, who had that morning ended up picking up a dirty sweater and brushed his hair while hurrying down the steps, rather wished that she had some hair out of place.

"You. Stole. My. Boyfriend." She enunciated. Charles rolled his eyes.

"For God's sake. I'm not dating him."

"You're kidding right?" Emma's voice was actually incredulous. "I _heard _him ask you out on a date this morning."

"That wasn't a date." God help him, Charles wished it was. But that would be stupid under present circumstances and, given that Erik was destined for far better things and he was destined for Oxford, would probably just lead to more unfortunate happenings.

"Like hell it isn't." Emma took in his expression. "You…oh my God, you're serious. Has anyone ever pointed out to you how pathetic it is that Erik declared himself gay and you're _still_ not dating?"

"It has occurred to me." Charles took a deep breath. God, he did not need this right now. "Has anyone ever pointed out to _you_ that since you were the one he was dating when he 'declared himself gay', it was actually your who turned him off women?"

She stared at him for a second. "Yes."

"Of course." Charles ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I'm just not in the mood for whatever you want."

"Well, I was going to give you a few misguided tips about Erik, but I actually think you're pitiful enough that I'm going to spare you." Charles wondered if Emma was under the impression that she was being nice. Probably.

"Joy." Charles turned back to his locker. "Goodbye."

"Excuse me." Emma said icily. "But this doesn't excuse the fact that you also stole all of my friends."

"You have a few hundred friends." Charles mentally told himself and his aching shoulder to quit being unsympathetic. "I think you can spare four of them. Three, when Vic gets back from his suspension."

"Okay, first of all, that _cretin_ is not my friend." Emma spat the words. "And those ones were my favorites."

"Because they never noticed that your stylist can't do a dye job to save their lives, little miss brown at the roots?" Emma sputtered.

"They're _highlights!_" Charles rolled his eyes. So Nurse Grey's theory was right. "And you might stand to notice that _my_ body hit puberty, which you don't seem have figured out."

"Mhhm. Puberty means a tissue stuffed bra and a bunch of Neanderthals panting around you wherever you go? You absolutely got the better part of the gene pool."

"And how many people around here are attracted to you? I do believe I've dated hotter people than you…oh, wait. No one wants to date you." Well, that was a rather low blow. Charles's cheeks flushed.

"At least, my love life isn't destroying my brain." He said coldly. "I don't know if you've realized this, but it is _monumentally_ stupid to let one little crush ruin your entire high school experience. Particularly when you might be having a decent one."

Emma's lips parted, though no sound emerged.

"I'm not stupid." Charles sighed. "And neither are you, according to your test papers." Well, most of them. The ones that weren't covered in incriminating doodles.

"I, um." Well, that had certainly caught Emma off balance. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Charles wasn't sure what, exactly, Emma was apologizing for, but the answer would have been the same. There was just no point in hating Emma Frost, and that had been near cruel. "Really, did you want something?"

"I, um." Emma blinked. "I think I need tutoring in math."

"Sure. Whenever you want it." Charles heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Erik hurried up to them both, eying Emma.

"What do you want?" Charles elbowed him.

"I was just leaving." Emma glanced at them both and left. Erik watched her drift away, scowling.

"What did she want?"

"I doubt that she even knows." Charles sighed.

He was _not_ in the mood for it.

* * *

><p>"So all I'm saying is that if we win our first game, you should buy drinks for the entire team." Janos dodged past Azazel and made a basket.<p>

"Traveling." Azazel called. He shouldered Janos out of the way and caught the ball as it bounced off the gym floor. "That's against the rules, dickhead."

"No, you just can't steal from me because of my mad dribbling skills." Janos snatched the ball and began moving up court. "And because you have on contact abilities."

"Fuck you." Azazel grumbled. He dove in for the ball, and Janos let him take it.

_I wish._ "But seriously, you going to that party tomorrow?"

"Nah. Dude smokes too much weed for me, I give it two months before Shaw busts his ass." Azazel twisted, and Janos took the opportunity to snag the ball back. "I hate you."

"You suck at this game." Janos laughed and shot. "That's twenty one-twelve."

"Double fuck you." Azazel caught the ball when Janos passed it back to him. "You going?"

"Nah, Vic might show up." Janos was possibly expending a foolish amount of energy making sure he didn't run into Vic. Azazel rolled his eyes.

"Girl." Janos took the ball back from him.

"Dude, seriously. You should not suck this much." It was ridiculous. If Janos, who forgot what he was doing every time he bumped shoulders with Azazel in the stupid new not-padded uniforms, could play competently, Azazel should have been more than capable.

"I keep thinking about tackling you." Az sighed. "No homo, just football."

_Of course. Dammit, I miss football uniforms._

"Get out of the mindset, man." _Or I will eat away my sorrow, and my parents will actually think I'm insane. _"Head in the _game!_"

"Did you actually just high school musical at me?" Azazel snickered. "Revoking your man card right now."

"I never even saw that stupid movie." Janos smirked. "So anyway, how many lines from it do you have memorized?"

"Shut up." Azazel sighed. "I've gotta get an English project done, we should probably stop."

"Might as well." Janos pushed his hair out of his eyes. He probably needed to get a headband. "You're not getting any better."

"Shut up." Azazel started towards the locker room. "Dude, you coming?"

"I'm gonna stay a little longer." Janos made another basket.

"Not like you need practice." Azazel frowned at him. Janos scrambled for an excuse that didn't involve unwillingness to see certain good looking, dark-haired best friends in their underwear. He was sexually frustrated enough.

"I am the only hope our team has. I feel obligated." Janos said with a grin. Azazel rolled his eyes.

"Suit yourself. Hey, if I don't finish my English and I'm not in tomorrow, sign me up for library study?"

"No prob." Janos tossed the ball at him. Azazel tossed it back and backed out. Janos sighed.

* * *

><p>"Higher! Higher!" Raven shrieked.<p>

"You're going to flip over the bar!" Erik called.

"Don't care! Higher!" Erik obliged and shoved harder, sending the five year old farther into the air. Charles watched, sitting on the crossbar of the two poles which supported the swings.

"I don't know where she gets that." He commented. Erik shrugged and shoved lightly, so that the fragile child would not actually flip. Charles grinned. "I think you're a bad influence."

"I am not!" Erik protested. Raven giggled as she went flying up again, blonde curls flying around her head.

"You're feeding us both icecream." Charles sighed. "Dinner is ruined."

"I can't believe you're still eating that." Charles spooned another bite into his mouth. Erik blinked, his focus disappearing at about the same rate as Charles licking the icecream from around his lips. That resulted in Raven almost hitting him in the head.

"It's called savoring." Charles laughed. "Just because you and Raven eat things in massive gulps doesn't mean the rest of us do."

"It took longer than that." Erik retaliated against Raven by giving her a hard push, sending her up with another shriek of laughter. "I thought my neighbor was lying about portion sizes." Charles had been smart enough to, when Erik dragged him and his giggling little sister to the icecream stand by the park all of his German neighbors hung around, just order a kiddie sized cup. Erik had decided to be like the five year old girl and just order a small, and he was fairly sure he'd consumed his weight in chocolate.

Of course, the little girl in question hadn't even blinked while devouring hers.

"Are you sure I can't pay you back for this?" Charles looked suddenly worried.

"Relax. I fed my neighbor's cat last week, and she tipped me." Erik was fairly sure that only reason Ms. Petersen tipped him was because her cat puked on her tablecloth three times and Erik washed it every time. He was also fairly sure that anyone sane (by which he meant his mother) thought it was too cold for icecream, and that that was bullshit. "You always treat, let me do it for once."

"Well." Charles seemed to shake off his worry and smiled at Erik. "Thank you."

"Erik!" Raven leapt off the swing. "Come on, watch me climb to the top of the jungle gym!" Quite clearly, the girl hadn't registered the fact that she'd just given both of them miniature heart attcks.

"Coming." Erik grinned at Charles. Charles grinned back. "Does this work for distracting you from your scholarly troubles?"

"You have no idea." Charles studied him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Charles shook his head. "We should probably go make sure she doesn't break something."

"That child is five times more agile than both of us put together." Erik said with a snort. They made their way over to the convoluted maze of poles that for some reason passed as jungle gym anyway, just in time to watch Raven shove a huge pile of leaves off. Charles burst out laughing when the mass of dead stuff landed on Erik's head. "Thanks."

"I think that was an abandoned squirrel's nest." Charles said, giggling. "And I think that you've got an acorn in your hair."

They ended up chasing Raven around the park for three more hours. Erik didn't even mind the fact that he still, apparently, had leaves in his shirt when he walked back into the apartment.

"_Erik? There are leaves in your collar." _His mother frowned at him. Erik froze.

"_I called you, right?" _

"Ja, ja." She nodded. "_So did Mr. Eberstark. Apparently, you've been in the park with your boyfriend for the last few hours, and he wanted to congratulate me on your success at finding an attractive male."_

"_What_?" Erik coughed. He hadn't even considered the fact that everyone in his apartment building hung out at that park, just that it was nice and had both quality icecream and things for Raven to climb on. _"We're not dating!"_

If he had to tell one more person that, Erik was going to flip and murder someone. An emotion he was becoming horribly familiar with.

"_I told him so." _She said, looking like she was barely hiding a smile. _"He wants to know if he can set you up with his nephew."_

"_Um." _Erik tried not to panic. He wasn't technically dating Charles, but he was unfortunately completely invested in Charles and didn't want to date anyone else, and that was a _horrible_ sign.

"_I turned him down." _She laughed. _"You're too busy with schoolwork to date."_

"_Yes." _Erik nodded rapidly. His mother returned to her book, still smiling. Erik was beginning to get the uncomfortable feeling that his mother knew things he did not.

* * *

><p>Erik didn't learn much about systems the next day in class. Erik was busy learning that it was very hard to lean into an aisle to get a better view of your crush's profile without being obvious.<p>

It was really unfortunate that Charles was hunched over his notes…but what Erik could see of Charles looked a bit sick. And since Erik had given up on paying attention to Ms. Munroe's review (they were having a quiz tomorrow. He could study later) or taking notes, he was free to stare at the back of Charles's neck to his heart's content.

Or…

_You okay? You look sick._ Erik crumpled the paper into a wad and tossed it forward. It landed on Charles's desk.

Ha. Azazel wished he had Erik's aim. Charles blinked at it, then glanced back. Erik raised his eyebrows. Charles shot him a look and uncrumpled it, scribbling down something else before putting the paper on the ground and kicking it back to Erik with his foot.

_I'm fine, I just didn't get much sleep last night. _

_Ps: Passing notes? Very retro, I would have expected you to just text._

Erik rolled his eyes. Ms. Munroe turned to face the class, pointing at a picture of something biological she'd just drawn on the board. Erik waited until she turned her back to erase it to throw his response to Charles.

_I didn't keep you out too late last night?_

_Ps: Phone's in my bag. And I didn't want to get skinned._

Charles caught the paper when Erik tossed it forward. Erik just restrained a laugh at the way he fumbled it, nearly dropped it into his lap. He did manage to write out a few lines and kick it backwards.

_Oh, not at all. You actually managed to tire Raven out yesterday, she zonked as soon as we got home. It was great; I had lots of time to study. _

_Ps: What are you talking about? Ms. Munroe is nice._

Erik returned the note as soon as Ms. Munroe leaned over her laptop to start the powerpoint.

_You work to much._

_Ps: To you. I think she throws kids who text in her class into the furnace in the basement._

Charles frowned the second he saw the words.

_*too. Erik, honestly, you should be able to make that distinction. _

_Ps: She does not, that furnace has a huge padlock on it._

Erik sighed.

_Excuuuse me. I was rushing. But seriously, you do look strained._

_Ps: Right. Like she couldn't pick that? _

Charles just barely managed to not laugh. Erik felt accomplished.

_I'm FINE. _

_Ps: Okay, fair point, but no one has disappeared yet._

Erik sniffed. Charles could choose to ignore the strange disappearances, but he spent too much time around Azazel and his internet conspiracy jokes to not notice the pattern.

_If you say so._

_Ps: What about that freshman kid?_

Charles scribbled out his answer.

_Cross my heart._

_Ps: Bobby moved to Michigan. _

Erik sighed. He wished that he had that much access to Charles's heart…and he sounded idiotic. Couldn't he at least have the part of his brain that wanted to get into Charles's pants dominate?

_Fine. _

_Ps: That's what they SAY._

He tossed it forward.

"Bad timing, Erik." Ms. Munroe stepped forward and caught it. Erik and Charles both cringed. "Boys…" She uncrumpled it and read through it, eyebrows steadily rising. Erik was honestly unsure of whether she was about to burst out laughing or start crying. "Erik."

"Yes?" He very much hoped that she wasn't about to fail him.

"Switch seats with Tessa." The girl sitting next to Charles, who seemed to have been doodling on her notes, looked up. "If you absolutely must talk to Charles, I'd rather you not distract my entire class by tossing a piece of paper back and forth doing my lectures."

"Sorry." Charles mumbled. Erik gathered his stuff together and slid into the newly vacated seat next to Erik. Charles lowered his voice. "Told you she was nice."

"But I want to talk to both of you after class." Ms. Munroe went back to her powerpoint.

"Just wait for the other shoe to drop." Erik muttered back. Charles winced. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." Erik was pretty sure that, given the fact that he was the one who woke up late and didn't get a chance to talk to Charles before homeroom and then decided to engage him in note passing rather than wait until after class to talk to him, it was his fault.

That did not stop him from spending the remainder of Ms. Munroe's lecture watching Charles take notes instead of doing it himself. This whole sitting next to Charles thing was probably going to be detrimental to his schoolwork. Erik could live with that.

_Brring._

Charles was on his feet the second the bell rang. Erik was still gathering up his things as Charles shot out the door.

"Erik?" Ms. Munroe was leaning against her desk waiting. Erik grimaced.

"Charles probably just forgot." Erik tried to act as though he didn't recognize what a weak excuse this was. "Um, sorry about the notes."

"I'll let you off with a warning. I'm just as concerned about Charles as you are." Ms. Munroe frowned. Erik shifted. Charles did have a tendency these days to look sick…constantly, actually. "Would you mind asking him about his welfare on my behalf?"

Erik wasn't totally sure, but that sounded disturbingly like a set up for a teacher to get him to spy on his best friend. And despite Ms. Munroe being weirdly cool, Erik would rather flunk.

"I just did." Erik deadpanned. "In the note."

Ms. Munroe sighed.

"I noticed. Let me write you a pass for your next class." Erik waited as she scribbled on a scrap of paper, looking frustrated. He hurried to his next class, trying not to let the fact that Ms. Munroe was quite concerned about Charles worry him.

It wasn't effective. Erik ended up spacing out after taking a disgustingly easy pop quiz wondering why Charles was avoiding Ms. Munroe just because she was worried about him. Hell, Charles did so much work that it was surprising all of his teachers didn't spend all their time worrying about him.

Of course, Charles had been doing a ridiculous amount of work for the entire year. And Ms. Munroe apparently had only decided he might not be able to handle it recently. And also, one would think that Charles would be grateful to have a teacher on his side trying to relieve his workload a bit.

The bell interrupted Erik's musings on the strangeness of Charles Xavier.

* * *

><p>The next two periods were spent doing actual work (unfortunately), and gave Erik no more time to figure out what was bothering him. By lunch, he was more worried about math than Ms. Munroe.<p>

That did not stop all of his worries from rushing back as soon as he saw Charles at lunch, nibbling on the edges of his sandwich.

"What happened?" Erik asked, sitting down. "You ditched me."

"Sorry." Charles flushed. "I just…"

"'Sup dudes?" Janos asked, plopping down.

"I just had to use the bathroom." Charles finished. "Nothing much. Where's Azazel?"

"Didn't finish his English project, so he's sick." Janos said. Erik was trying to process how absurdly ridiculous that lie had been to listen.

"Oh." Charles looked back at his book.

"I'm gay." Janos blurted out. Erik was knocked out of his processing.

"Welcome out." Janos stared between the two of them. Charles had closed his book.

"You _knew?_" Charles looked sheepish.

"Well, I sort of noticed who you look at, and it was not at all hard to deduce from there. And then I told Erik awhile ago. Sorry." Janos groaned.

"I'm such a dick."

"No, just misguided." Charles protested. Erik shrugged.

"No, I'm pretty sure that liking dick makes you have some of their traits. A _straight_ dick." Janos didn't even seem to notice the nonsensicalness of that last statement. It took Erik a few minutes to figure out that he wasn't talking about anatomy.

"He could not be straight?" Erik offered halfheartedly.

"Right. Az tells me everything, he _loves_ boobs." Janos let out a pathetic noise. "What am I supposed to do? He changes in front of my all the time, and he borrows my clothing, and if I tell him he's going to think that I've been perving on him since we were like, twelve, which I swear I haven't been even though he's stupidly attractive but I like seriously value our friendship and I feel like a douche because I also want to not be friends. How am I supposed to even tell someone that?"

"Uh." Charles had gone pale. "I don't really think that's going to be your issue…"

"Really." Janos deadpanned. "Then what _is_ my issue?"

"See, Azazel is kind of right behind you…"

**A/N: Review? Please? *prays that people are still reading this after not updating for ages* I made it nice and long for you…please still have interest?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Guys, I'm super sorry this is late, but I was in a cabin in Maine, and there was no wifi. There wasn't even enough civilization around for me to latch onto someone else's connection, there were just **_**woods**_**. Which was actually awesome, but I digress. At least the chapters are longish. **

**Also, I love y'all. Your reviews are amazing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own MARVEL. Or anything affiliated with it.**

Janos froze. Charles seemed to become smaller, shrinking in his seat. Erik swore internally.

Azazel had also frozen, holding his binders and what looked like a bag of chips from the vending machine. A table away, Emma looked up.

"Az…" Janos scrambled to his feet, turning around to face Azazel. Azazel was already backing away slowly, his eyes wide and expression unreadable. "Az!"

Azazel didn't bolt (that wouldn't have gone well, not in a crowded cafeteria). He rather used his talent at vanishing to cut through five consecutive lunchlines, navigate the morass of freshmen tables and senior tables, and duck out a side door faster than Erik would have thought possible. Janos stared after him, taking one step away from the table. Then he turned around and sank back into his seat with a groan, putting his head in his hands. Erik glanced at Charles. Charles shook his head.

"I'm screwed. I am royally, absolutely, completely screwed." Janos said into his hands.

"There there." Charles said soothingly. "It can't be as bad as all that."

"Dude, I am _fucked._" Janos peered at both of them through his hair. "My best friend is never going to talk to me again. Who am I supposed to team up with on projects? Who's going to be my scrimmage partner? Oh _god_, I give it two hours before everyone in our grade knows."

"Don't be ridiculous. Gossip doesn't spread that fast." Charles said bracingly.

"…I remember once Emma started making jokes about someone or other having an affair with a teacher and it took one period for it to be a running joke. The freshman knew. The freaking _freshmen._"

"Then that _was_ you lot?" Charles said. Janos cringed. "Never mind. You're not giving Azazel nearly enough credit."

"He's an idiot." Janos moaned. "He's going to tell the first jock he sees and then I'm going to be kicked off every single team in the school."

"You might not." Erik pointed out. "You're a valuable player."

Janos snorted. "Oh, yeah. Because they're going to care. Locker pushing is _mild_ for those assholes. As soon as Vic finds out, I'm going to end up in an alley somewhere!"

"You're tall though." Erik said. He was pretty sure that comforting people was not his strong suit.

"They come in _packs._" Janos snapped. "One time, they cornered a guy and shot him with super soakers full of piss!"

"That was me." Charles said with a sigh.

"And another time, they had a pool going for who could hit this guy in the head with a tomato from the third floor windows first!"

"Also me."

"And once Vic wouldn't let people into the locker room unless they presented him proof they'd roughed up a nerd!"

"I wondered what that was about." Charles muttered. "Janos, calm down."

"I will be _calm_ when I'm not losing my friend, my team, and probably my 3.5 gpa if I don't have Az to help me with Pre-calc!" Janos hissed. "And then we can have parades of calm and march to the songs of calm! Until then, you can take your calm and shove it up your _ass_!"

"Dude." There was no reason to take out his frustration on Charles. Though in fairness, the slightly nonsensical rant clearly hadn't impressed Charles, who had taken another bite of his sandwich and merely looked resigned. "Relax."

"_Relax?!_" Janos sputtered. "My life just…"

"Life?" Charles asked. "Breathe, Janos. Your life is not dependant on one incident while sixteen."

"Okay." Janos took a deep breath, clearly recalibrating. "I'm going home."

Charles frowned disapprovingly. "Your classes - "

"Take the 60 bus, not the 25. That driver won't take students unless they can show an early release pass." Erik said, cutting off Charles. Charles was still frowning. "If you need anything, call me."

"Thanks, but I think I've got everything I need to cope with emotional destruction at my house."

Charles looked alarmed. "If you're going to be drinking heavily, you really ought to have someone with you."

"What?" Janos blinked. "No dude, I'm going to eat ice cream and play violent video games. The last thing I need is my parents mad at me on top of this shitstorm."

"Oh." Charles flushed. Erik rolled his eyes.

"I'll get your homework." He said. Erik watched as Janos got up and hurried from the Cafeteria, head turned down. Erik groaned. "This sucks."

"Should we be going after him?" Charles asked worriedly.

"That would probably be a crap idea." Erik shook his head. "Being rejected sucks. Trust me, the last thing he wants is company." God knows, remembering the feeling made Erik want to lock himself in his room and ignore all human contact.

"Ah." Charles sighed. "Well."

"Yeah."

"What just happened?" Charles and Erik both started. Emma, arms crossed and fingers tapping her elbow, repeated the question.

"What do you want?" Erik asked coldly. If Emma caught wind of it, the freshmen _would_ know about it by the end of the day.

"I'd like to know why Azazel bolted out and why Janos looks like a kicked puppy!" Emma snapped back. Erik glanced at Charles. Charles shrugged. Emma's eyes narrowed. "What?"

Both boys were silent.

"Oh my god, do you think I'd actually tell people? They're my _friends._"

"That's what they said about John." Erik said. "And last I checked, he still can't use a public bathroom."

"John was a tool." Emma retorted. "I happen to like Azazel and Janos. And if you don't tell me I swear to God, I will tell Principal Shaw that you're having sex in the girls bathroom between periods. It will be the most awkward visit to the office you've had in your life. He'll call your parents in for a conference."

"Janos may or may not have admitted his homosexuality and crush on Azazel within said crush's earshot." Charles blurted out. He wilted under the look Erik shot him. "She's not going to tell anyone…"

"I could pinky swear, if it would make you believe that I don't actually want Janos's life to suck more than it already does right now." Emma said acidly. "And if I was going to write limericks about Janos's sexuality on the wall of the girl's bathroom, I would have done it already."

Erik was honestly starting to wonder about the contents of the girl's bathrooms at Lincoln.

"You knew?" Charles asked.

"No. But Janos's hair is more fabulous than mine. And also, the fact that he stares at Azazel's ass about 60 percent of the time." Emma sat down. "So. What did Azazel do?"

"He bolted." Erik grumbled. "You saw it."

"Fuck." Emma reached for her phone. "I'm going to text him."

"He's not going to answer." Charles predicted with a sigh. Emma glared at her phone then shoved it back in her pocket.

"You're right." She rested her elbows on the table. "What are we going to do?"

"Not meddle in other people's lives?" Erik suggested. Charles nodded vehemently. Emma rolled her eyes. "What."

"You two were born to meddle in other people's lives, let's be honest." Erik wasn't even going to try to understand what that meant.

"If we're being honest, then I'd like to know why the hell you're sitting here." Erik nodded in the direction of Emma's table. "Shouldn't you be over there planning how to sneak beer into someone's house?"

"I'm not invited to any of the parties happening this weekend." Emma said icily. "And seeing as my friends don't talk to me, my heart just isn't in throwing one of my own."

Charles kicked Erik under the table. "Emma, as sweet as it is that you want to help them, I really think they ought to work it out on their own.

_Sweet?_ Erik held back incredulous laughter.

"They're both idiots. They aren't going to work it out on their own." Emma sniffed. "And Azazel screws with my gaydar."

"Mine too." Charles admitted. They both glanced at Erik.

"…I manage to exist without gaydarring people left and right." Besides, the only person whose sexuality Erik actually cared about was Charles's, and apparently Charles wasn't Eriksexual, because life sucked. He and Janos ought to get together and punch things.

"Whatever." Emma dismissed him. "The bell's about to ring - could you at least give Janos a hug from me when you next see him?"

"You hug?" Erik muttered. Charles kicked him again.

"Erik, be nice." He hissed. "I'll have Erik do it."

Erik opened his mouth to object. Charles shot him a look.

The bell rang. Emma sighed and rose, slinging her purse (how some girls managed to carry around purses instead of backpacks bewildered Erik) over her shoulder. "Well. I'll see you two around."

"What was that?" Erik said to Charles as soon as they were in the hallway and Emma was out of earshot.

"You really ought to give her more credit." Charles shook his head. "She's genuinely concerned, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, right." Erik paused, delaying the moment when he had to leave Charles and head for the staircases (basement classes were hell). "Are we okay to hang out after school today?"

"I warn you, I need to go to the library and study for a major English test."

"Works for me." Erik said. Charles shot him a smile and disappeared into the current of students heading for the science wing. Erik sighed and headed towards the basement. It was always easy to feel the temperature descending as you headed to the lowest level. As far as Erik and anyone else who took their classics course down there were concerned, it was proof that Dante knew what he was talking about.

Erik plopped into his desk and began doodling as soon as he walked inside. He was fairly certain that he was sailing in this class - thanks mainly to the fact that Charles had pointed him towards books more interesting than the dry textbook and enormously boring lectures.

"And where is Mr. Quested?" Mr. Ramsey called, tugging Erik out of the miniature drawing of a cardigan he'd been working on.

"He wasn't here in homeroom." Erik recited. He ignored a snicker from one of the kids behind him.

"Be sure to inform him that there will be a quiz tomorrow." Mr. Ramsey turned back to the board. "And now, on to forms of communication in the ancient world."

Erik revised his drawing to be a cardigan walking on a road.

* * *

><p>"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." Erik said.<p>

"Darcy to Elizabeth." Charles replied. "Said when Darcy is still far too prideful. The following conversation demonstrates both Darcy's initial pride in his belief that she will not refuse him, and in that he focuses on her family more than he does her merits."

"He's a _jerk._" Raven piped up. "A big, stupid head."

"Essentially." Erik agreed. "Where is Pemberly woods?"

"Darcy's estate." Charles closed his eyes. "First time Elizabeth sees the change in Darcy is when they meet there, shows Darcy's great wealth."

"Do we have an estate?" Raven asked. Apparently, Raven found their studying to be far more interesting than her coloring book.

"Sort of." Charles frowned at her. "Raven, I have to finish studying for this test. Can you focus on your book?"

"Hmmpf." Raven scowled, but picked up a red crayon.

Erik restrained the urge to laugh. "Name one theme."

"Class. Showed by Mr. Collins and his constant attention to Lady Catherine de Bough." Charles sighed. "I hate studying for English tests."

"Me too." Erik glared down at the copy of Pride and Prejudice he held. "To be in the same party with him for so many hours together, might be more than I could bear, and that scenes might arise unpleasant to more than myself."

"Mr. Wickham." Charles closed his eyes. "When he's attempting to justify himself to Elizabeth after she finds out the truth?"

"Close. It's after he doesn't go to some ball because Darcy would be there." Erik tossed the book aside. "Explain to me again why you have to be able to identify quotes."

"I have no idea." Charles rubbed his forehead. "How long have we been here?"

Erik checked the clock on the wall. The library was almost empty, except for them. "Two hours."

"No wonder you're getting bored." Charles said to Raven. He bent to pick her up. "The library closes in ten minutes. We've got to get home, sweetheart."

"No." Raven crossed her arms. "Don't wanna."

"Raven. We have to." Charles sighed and cast an embarrassed look at Erik. "I'm sorry. Raven, come on. Dinner is at home."

"We could go out." Her lower lip became more pronounced.

"No." Charles closed his eyes. "Raven, some of my homework is online. I need to be at home to do it."

"Computers are all over." The five year old's frown became more pronounced. "Don't wanna go home."

"Young lady." Charles's voice turned severe. "We are going home."

"No!" Raven flopped down on her stomach and clawed at the carpeting. "No!"

"I'm sorry." Charles said to Erik. "She's not usually this difficult."

"She's five." Erik said dryly. "If she didn't have occasional temper tantrums, she'd be insane."

Charles flashed him a brief, tired, smile. "Raven, get up this instant. Or heaven help me, I will drag you out of here kicking and screaming."

"Wouldn't." Raven's voice was muffled.

"Absolutely would." Charles responded. "I'm bigger than you are, remember?" He bent over Raven and brushed her hair off the floor, his voice going gentle. "Come on, sweetheart. We can have dinner in my room, and I'll read you an extra story tonight."

"Mmpf." Charles picked Raven up, settling her in his arms. "Shh."

Erik picked up Charles and Raven's bags. Charles shot him a grateful look. Erik shrugged. Charles smiled slightly.

"What was that about?" He muttered to Charles, once Raven was in her car seat and Erik was about to head for public transportation.

"She's just…nothing." Charles shook his head. "Way too complicated to explain."

"If you say so." Erik waved to him and drifted down the block to the bus station. Given the current state of Janos and Azazel, he had more prevalent things to worry about than a temper tantrum.

* * *

><p>Erik didn't hear from Janos that night. He worried about him in a hennish way that suggested he was spending far too much time around Charles, but no texts were actually sent, as Erik was a great believer in privacy. To an extent. If Janos wasn't in school, he fully intended on spamming his friend's email and his phone until he got some sort of response.<p>

"Did you talk to Janos?" Charles asked, when Erik sat down next to him in class.

"No." Erik shook his head. "You?"

"We never exchanged contact information." Charles said. He nervously twiddled his pen. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Probably not." Erik said honestly. At Charles's expression, which somehow managed to become _more_ worried, he quickly added "But I'm sure he will be once he…um…"

Well, Erik wasn't quite sure what the best solution for Janos's particular problem was. Presumably, there wasn't one.

"He'll be fine once he gets a chance to talk to Azazel." Erik finally said.

"That doesn't help." Charles sighed.

"They'll work it out." Erik said with more confidence than he felt. He'd never made an enormous effort towards figuring out Azazel's head, mainly due to the fact that he was half convinced it was 50 percent sports statistics and 50 percent crowd navigation technique, all concealed behind an impressive poker face.

"_If_ you two are quite finished gossiping." Ms. Munroe said sharply. Charles cringed. Erik realized that it might be prudent to actually open his notebook and listen to the lecture. "Thank you. And Erik, see me after class."

"Yes Ms. Munroe." He dated his paper and scribbled down the title of the chapter they were working on (Charles had had the foresight to put his own textbook in front of them both, and opened it to the correct chapter).

"Now, back to ecosystems." Erik had a decent understanding of ecosystems already. And so, for the majority of the lecture, he found that his eyes drifted from Ms. Munroe and her projector to Charles. Then he would jerk his attention back to the lesson, only for it to be almost immediately reclaimed by Charles.

Charles looked very nice under fluorescent lighting. Erik idly began trying to figure out the exact shade of Charles's eyes - not sky blue exactly, and azure didn't quite cover it…sapphire? No, too deep, his eyes only looked dark because his skin was so pale. Erik's gaze wandered away, down to Charles's lips.

It was hard to get their exact shade too. There were probably girls who would kill to have lips like that without using lipstick…unless of course, Charles was using lipstick, which he doubted, especially since he hadn't tasted any that one time they kissed…his lips were inordinately kissable. It really wasn't fair to all the other lips in the world.

Erik managed to drag his eyes away and look back at the board before Charles noticed he was staring.

In perhaps two minutes, he was back to staring, this time looking down Charles's chin…Erik wondered if he shaved. He doubted it. Charles didn't really look hairy enough to warrant it. Charles shifted in his seat, his shirtsleeve riding up.

Huh. Charles had a mark stretching from his forearm over to his wrist, stopping just before the back of his hand. It was red and puffy at the edges, with a few traces of purple bruising spreading out around it.

"Where did you get the burn?" Erik muttered to Charles. He regretted it when Charles was so surprised he almost fell out of his chair, in the process covering the skin again.

"It's stupid." Charles replied. He sighed. "I just…I was trying to learn how to cook, since I'm leaving for Oxford at the end of the year and I can't feed Raven on a college meal plan, and I was clumsy. I dropped a spaghetti pot on my leg and when I bent over to pick it up, I stumbled and fell against the burner."

Erik sucked in his breath. "Shit."

"It wasn't one of my finer moments." Charles shook his head. "But it's not too bad."

"Looks pretty painful."

"Yes, well looks are deceiving." Charles got up. "I'm going to go get the paper for the questions."

_Questions?_

Ah, yes. There were a bunch of questions written out on the board that they were meant to answered by groups on two, on the specific sheets of paper that Ms. Munroe was keeping at her desk. Erik thanked anyone listening up there that he'd managed to get fixated on a person who paid enough attention in class for the both of them.

He watched as Charles walked up to the front to get them, doing his absolute best to _not_ check out Charles's ass the entire time.

Charles was next in line after Tessa, the girl Erik had replaced. She looked a bit lost - which Erik took to mean that Charles had been doing all of the groupwork thus far this year, and this was the first time she had to lift a finger during class. Erik managed to not laugh as she knocked over the entire stack of papers, sending them flying in all directions.

Charles, who was also not laughing, ducked away from her flailing arms and caught a piece of paper before it hit the floor. He did it in one motion and quite suddenly, it occurred to Erik that Charles wasn't clumsy. Sure, when he was carrying an overloaded backpack he might overbalance occasionally, but he was no klutz.

Huh.

"Here, I got us paper." Charles sat back down. "Do you want to split the questions half and half?"

"Sure." Erik said automatically. He began scribbling down an answer to the first question as Charles flipped through the textbook. The burn mark on Charles's forearm went in and out of visibility.

Actually, that was a weird place to hit your arm just in general. Hitting a wrist or an elbow, yeah, that was normal, but the top of your forearm on a burner?

"That's a weird place to get burned." Erik commented as he slid the paper to Charles's side of the desk.

"Well, you know me." Charles glanced over Erik's answer then began to write another. "Accident prone."

Not in Erik's experience. Bully-prone maybe, but he'd never seen Charles get into any sort of accident while they were hanging out. All the times Charles had mentioned that he tripped, Charles had done so when…when he was at home.

_Brring_

"If you didn't complete your questions, I want them done on your own time." Ms. Munroe called over the stampede. "They're up on my website, and if they aren't in your binders come checking day, I'm docking five points!"

"You want me to stay?" Charles asked awkwardly, looking for all the world like he would rather run from the room with the rest of the herd.

"No, it's fine. If I never come out, tell my mother I love her." Charles laughed and left.

Erik approached her desk with a mixture of trepidation and incredulity that she was giving them even _more_ homework on top of the already assigned work sloshing round his brain. Ms. Munroe leaned against it and didn't speak for a moment. Erik watched her eyes follow Charles out of the classroom.

"Erik." She began. Erik fixed her with his best poker face. "There's no need for that sort of a face."

Well, that sounded eerily like his mother.

"I just wanted to inform you that you got a one hundred on the last test." _Wait._ That quiz had been a test? Crap, he should have studied more…wait, what? "You and Charles were the only students who aced it, did you study together?"

"Yeah, we usually do." Erik got the feeling that Ms. Munroe wanted more than just to congratulate him. He also got the feeling that maybe Ms. Munroe had noticed Charles's spate of bruises (looking back, Charles _always_ had a bruise) before he did, which made him feel guilty, worried, and relieved that someone else thought something was maybe up. And all at the same time. He hadn't even known he had that much emotional depth. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if Charles seemed off to you lately." Ms. Munroe sighed. "He's under a lot of stress, and I was concerned."

"Charles is always stressed. It isn't a new thing." Erik said flatly. Well, showing the stress was new, but Erik wasn't about to talk to a teacher about it. The code of talking to anyone _but_ a teacher about problems transcended cultural, ethnic, and social boundaries, and Erik certainly wasn't going to break it.

"Of course." Ms. Munroe sighed. "I should have expected it. Congratulations on your new gpa, Erik, and let me write you a pass for your next class."

* * *

><p>There were books on the floor in front of Charles's locker.<p>

With a quick glance either way down the hallway to make sure no one was coming who was likely to kick him (not a typical thing, but Charles had become slightly more paranoid of late), Charles bent down and picked them up, flipping through them.

_In Memory Yet Green_

_Bag of Bones_

_Calculus as interpreted by Ellison, McNair and Scubert._

How on earth…the last time Charles had seen these books, the volleyball team had been throwing them out windows. Or possibly onto the roof, he'd been more eager to get away before things got physical than keep track of his books, even though _In Memory Yet Green_ was out of print and he knew it would be a pain to find a new copy.

"Hey, Charles."

"Did you put these here?" Charles asked, getting to his feet so he was almost eye level with Emma.

She barely glanced at them. "No, if I wanted to give you more books I'd just hand them to you like normal people do. By the way, you might want to start leaving books at home - I know that chiropractors are good people and all, but it's not your job to support _all_ of them."

"Ha ha." Charles rolled his eyes and crammed more books into his locker. "What is it?"

"My math grade." Emma sighed. "I got a C on the last test, and my Mom threatened to take away my car if I don't do better."

"You got a A- on the last test." Charles corrected her. Volunteering to help grade tests when he was a freshman was really the best decision he'd ever made.

"I guess I forgot. I meant classics." Emma shifted uncomfortably. Charles felt a twinge of triumph, and cocked an eye at her. "Okay. Fine. Look, could I get your advice on something?"

"Sure." Charles glanced up at the clock. "Could we do it during a study hall or something?"

"I spend my study periods in the computer lab." Emma shrugged. "The only other people in there are the newspaper club, if you want to stop in some time."

"What's up?" Erik hurried up to them, casting a baleful look at Emma. One day, Charles would have to get Erik to work on not being irate with everyone. "Charles, we on to hang out after school?"

"Sorry, no." Charles really wished that he could. It was much more preferable than going home. "I need to go straight home today, I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?" Erik frowned. "I was hoping to talk to you."

"You'll see me tomorrow." Charles offered. "But for now, I don't have a late pass and I'm running late…"

He hurried off. Erik and Emma remained, casting each other suspicious glances.

"You have a late pass?" Emma broke the silence.

"Ms. Munroe gave it to me." Erik replied. She fished in her purse and held one up.

"I got a few in pencil at the start of the year. I'm golden." They kept shooting each other glares as the hallway emptied. "You know, other people are allowed to talk to your boyfriend."

"We. Are. Not. Dating." If Erik had to explain that one more time… "And what do _you_ want with him?"

"I may think he's an interesting person." Emma said coolly.

Erik snorted. "You always have an agenda."

"Is that what you think?" Emma cocked her head.

"That's what I _know_."

"Then you know nothing, Erik Lensherr." Emma flounced off.

"Did you just quote George R. R. Martin at me?!" He yelled after her. Emma was already gone, and Erik spent the rest of the day alternately worrying about Charles and trying to get a handle on the fact that Emma and he might have similar taste in books.

* * *

><p>"<em>Big day?" <em>His mother asked as soon as Erik walked through the door. _"And you're not with Charles."_

"_We're not attached at the hip Mama." _Erik said. He flopped down in a chair and stared at the pile of books on the table. That one of them was _Dance of Dragons_ didn't help his mood.

"_What is it?" _His mother asked, in a tone that implied Erik had better fess up.

"_Nothing." _Erik shrugged. She rolled her eyes. _"No, really. It's probably none of my business."_

Except that seeing as Charles had maybe three other people looking out for him, it sort of was. Erik hauled out his PreCalc textbook and tried to think about inverse functions. Unfortunately, inverse functions weren't nearly as attention grabbing as trying to figure out the logistics for how Charles had gotten a burn on the front of his forearm, or the fact that Erik had burned himself on a stovetop before, and it hadn't looked much like Charles's skin.

Of course, Charles might have a nicer stove than Erik did, or one that had higher heat.

Yeah, that was likely. Totally likely.

* * *

><p>Charles walked down the servant's hall with Raven on his hip, listening to the house around him. No one really used the servant's quarters anymore. The servants themselves had their own homes nicer than these tiny little apartments (at least, he hoped they were nicer), and by now this part of the house was primarily used as storage.<p>

But it also had a door that linked to the outside, which why Charles most commonly walked through these halls.

He carefully tread down the hallway, shutting doors behind him so that the locks didn't click. Raven, whose arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, didn't make a single sound.

His room was only a few hallways away. Living room, dining room, and two unoccupied bedrooms. Charles slid past them like a shadow, stopping only when he heard noises coming from the kitchenette.

"Stay here." He ordered Raven softly. She clung to him as he put her down. "I'll be fine."

Raven huddled up against the hall, looking miserably. Charles pulled off his cardigan and draped it around her, affecting a smile. She barely smiled back, but snuggled into the blue fabric.

Charles padded up to the living room, and sighed.

"Mother."

First Charles knelt down on the rug, peering beneath the couch. He groped beneath it - dammit, the whole floor was soaked in liquor - and finally pulled out a half full bottle. Charles glanced over the label.

"Scotch." He sighed. "Mother, it's three in the afternoon."

The only answer was a hiccup. Charles crawled back from the couch and over to the woman who'd given birth to him. She was sprawled by atable, one with a fallen chair next to it that she'd probably been sitting in, sniffling and hiccupping.

"Can you hear me?" He asked, being careful where he put his hands. There were shards of glass on the floor, just on top of another stain in the carpet. She must have dropped her glass. Charles rubbed his temples and guessed that his mother had knocked the bottle off the table as well, and then fallen from the chair when she tried to retrieve her liquor.

She made a whining sound, hitting the carpet. Charles caught her wrist and glanced over her palms - no, she'd not managed to cut herself on the shattered glass, though several older marks were visible on her arms.

"Come on, up you get." Charles wrapped an arm around her waist and tried to tug her to her feet. She was as limp as if she was already unconscious, even though bleary blue eyes were blinking at Charles. He was reasonably sure that there was no recognition in them.

"Uhugh." His mother made a gurgling sound. Charles released her and scrambled back, warily watching her. When, after a moment, she showed no signs of vomiting, Charles inched his way back over and hauled her up. Her head bounced against his shoulder as Charles half dragged her over to the couch.

"Come on, down you go." Charles eased her onto the cushions, so that at least her top half was reclining. She groped for the bottle he'd left there. Charles snatched it up. She glared at him sullenly, the most coherent emotion she'd yet shown. "I really think you've had enough."

His mother made a grunting noise that sounded like something between a swear word and a dog's bark. Charles sighed and picked up her feet, propping them up. It didn't look like she'd been out of the house, or if she had, she hadn't bothered to dress herself up.

"Can you get yourself on your side?" She blinked at him. Charles nervously glanced over his shoulder, hoping that Raven was where he'd left her. This really wasn't something the five year old needed to walk in on. "Mother…"

She made another chucking sound. Charles grimaced and decided that perhaps less alcohol had been spilled on the floor than he formerly thought. After a few moments of manhandling, Sharon was on her side, bloodshot eyes glaring at her son. Charles carefully looked over her face - what parts of it her hair hadn't fallen over - and any visible flesh. He couldn't see any fresh bruises.

"I'm going to call a maid in to sit with you, okay?" That didn't get any response. Charles sighed again and walked away, leaving the bottle on the table where his mother had presumably been drinking. He doubted she could gather herself up enough to get it and if she tried, well the maid would pick her up off the floor.

Charles fervently hoped that Janos wasn't in a similar state.

* * *

><p><em>Bank shot<em>

There was a swishing sound as the ball bounced off the backboard and into the center of the net, before bouncing off the asphalt and into Janos's hands. Janos sighed and contemplated the hoop.

_Wraparound, hook shot_

Janos backed down his driveway, dribbling behind his back before making his shot. The ball made the basket again, and Janos caught it on the rebound. He tossed it in the air a few times.

_Jump shot_

"Jump shot." Janos jerked and spun midshot. The ball went high, smacking off the backboard and going over Janos's head. Azazel caught it, his eyebrows slightly arched. "Dude, H."

"Um, hey." Janos coughed, looking anywhere but his friend.

"Layup."

"Not exactly creative." Janos watched the ball enter the net and caught it before Azazel could grab it. "What up?"

"Your parents home?" Azazel asked.

"Yeah, but they're in the den watching tv. They can't see the driveway." His parents, who had accepted his lie about having a stomachache with minimal skepticism, probably didn't need to see whatever was going to happen out here. Janos began dribbling, for lack of anything else to do with his hands.

"I know that dude." Azazel rolled his eyes. "I've been practicing with you here since we were like, eleven."

"You want to work on your jump shot?" Janos asked, hoping that his voice didn't give away how eager he was to do something normal. Maybe Azazel was just going to ignore the whole scene in the lunchroom.

"No, I want to talk to you." Azazel said, in the 'Janos you idiot' tone he used whenever he found addition related mistakes in Janos's math homework. "You like, admitted to creeping on me for years, that's kind of more important than basketball."

"I thought that nothing was more important sports." Janos said weakly.

"My best friends relationship to me is more important." Azazel said flatly. He winced. "I am making such a crap job of this. I mean that we can't just pretend that whole confession thing didn't happen."

"If you're breaking up with me as a friend can you please get it over with?" Janos asked in a pained voice.

"What? No!" Azazel practically yelped. "What the hell would I do without you? My life would suck!"

"It would?" Janos stopped his dribbling.

"Jan." Azazel sighed. "Look, what I meant to say was that you're really hot."

"…what?" Janos was pretty sure he'd heard that wrong. He knew he was pretty attractive - the many girls he'd politely turned down attested to that - but still. What?

"You have really perfect skin. And gorgeous hair. And just your whole" Azazel gestured vaguely. "face, is really handsome. And the reason I suck at basketball is because I keep looking at you in shiny shorts and forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. And anyway, you also have a really nice personality because you put up with my shit and don't laugh at me when I talk about stupid stuff and you're like a really hot kitten except you look better in a suit."

"Wait…" Janos tried to catch up. "I thought you were straight?"

"I _am_ straight." Azazel grumbled. "It's just _you._ And I thought you were straight for like, five years, because even though you never go out with girls you always hang around Emma and I thought you liked her - "

"Dude, I would have _told_ you. Emma's just a friend." Janos interrupted.

"So anyway, I was just going to ignore all the gay thoughts, and it was totally working. Except then lunch." Azazel sighed. "You know, I actually had a speech worked out for this. I was going to quote poetry and be romantic."

"Wait…so…you return my feelings?" Janos wished he could come up with a better way to phrase that. "I thought you were, I don't know…not into gayness?"

Azazel, coughed, also a bit red. "Well, yeah, but I didn't know any gay people, and I thought...I dunno. But it was stupid. I'm not sure what exactly, you see in me, since you're sort of perfect and I'm sort of a dick."

"You have a face that looks like it was sculpted by Greek Gods. You even look nice when you're bright red." Janos took a deep breath. Better get this all out now. "And you're funny, and you're great at telling stories. Plus, you were willing to eat those potato omelets I made last year that were half raw and half burned, even though you made fun of me. And when my dog died you helped me scatter the ashes in the backyard. You helped me win Keyes on Halo. And you have a really nice butt."

That last bit had not been intentional.

Azazel shifted. "Thanks man. You too."

"So, you'd be willing to go out with me?" Janos blurted out.

"Right." Azazel hurried forward and took the ball out of Janos's hands. He tossed it to the side and knelt down. "Will you, Janos Quested, totally the best friend in the entire world, consent to date me, even though I have no idea what gay relationships are like and will probably screw it up at some point?" He fumbled at his pocket. "I brought you chocolate too."

"Okay." Was all Janos managed to get out. Azazel scrambled to his feet, still holding Janos's hands. He leaned forward, releasing one of Janos's hands to tangle his own hand in Janos's hair. Janos followed his lead and wrapped the free hand around Azazel's waist, bringing them closer together. He hesitated a second and then Az's lips were on his, persistent and clearly experienced.

Janos moved into the kiss, moving his hand down to brush his fingers over the waistband of Az's jeans. Az twitched, shoving Janos back a step. Janos laughed and broke the kiss, his chinks pink.

"So, do you want to go get pizza?" Azazel asked.

Janos shook his head. "My parents think I'm sick. They won't let me go off the property."

"We could hang in your room and eat chips?" Az grinned. "I'll get your player to the next level of Assassin's Creed."

"That would be great." Janos didn't release Az's hand.

**A/N: So, reviews? Pleeease? If any of you care, all books mentioned except for the random Calculus textbook do exist (I did nothing but read while I was in Maine, which accounts for the fact that this chapter is heavy on references that no one else cares about, sorry). I recommend all of them.**

**And also, in case anyone else has read Pride and Prejudice - are there any X-Men Aus for it? Because after finishing it, I spent like half an hour trying to figure out who would be Darcy and who would be Elizabeth, and failing. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: *nervous wave* Hi guys. So um, I kind of a had a freakishly dramatic junior/senior year (life imitating fic except WORSE I kid you not) and then this whole "college" thing happened. And I um, forgot. **

**I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed in this period, and who messaged me on tumblr, cause those messages really did help out during the stressful time, and these chapters just would not have been dug out of storage if it wasn't for y'all. Particular shoutout to thelonelydoctorwho for really motivating me and reminding me that hey dumbass this exists. (Except they were really much nicer about it)**

**Ps: I have over 300 reviews now, and I have never ever in my life gotten that many reviews for a single piece of writing. Even if everyone has lost interest in this fic entirely, and I honestly wouldn't blame y'all if you had because it's been more than a year since last update, that means a lot to me, and the occasional review during the past year(s) did a lot for me in the times of stress. So thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownage of MARVEL, nor of the actors, nor of anything else anyone would want to sue me over.**

Erik knew perfectly well that there were probably only five people in the entire school who actually liked mornings. It offered small comfort to know that he wasn't the only one swearing in his head about the no-coffee-in-the-hallway rule.

Not that the no-coffee rule stopped him from brining a thermos full, but having to tuck it under his jacket whenever a teacher actually stuck their heads out of homeroom was tiresome.

"Aww, Erik, were you up late last night?"

Erik wondered whether throwing scalding coffee over someone's face would get him expelled.

"Bite me, Janos." Five people in the school who liked mornings, and one of them just _had_ to be an acquaintance.

"Not today." Janos responded with a grin. "What have I missed?"

_Charles has a burn on his forearm._ "Not much."

"Dude, Nurse Grey is demanding to see a note from my parents." Azazel jumped into the conversation with his usual abruptness. "I already gave one to my homeroom teacher, but according to her I won't get excused from my volunteer shift until I bring a _separate_ note for her."

"Sorry man." Janos said, his voice neutral.

"Someone's on speaking terms again." Erik commented.

"We worked it out." Azazel said casually. "Where's Charles, anyway?"

"Five feet away, idiot." Erik nodded across the hall. "How the hell do you hang around this locker so often and not know that Charles's is right there?"

"Well excuse me for not being a stalker." Azazel waved a hand across the hallway, where Charles was staring into his locker in a typical morning haze. "Hey! Charles!"

Charles started and blinked at them. Azazel waved at him. Charles shut his locker and began to make his way over to them, looking distracted. Erik winced as a larger guy shoved past Charles, and Charles staggered back. It wasn't exactly an uncommon incident - even Erik got jostled in the hallways, and half the school was still afraid of him - but the way Charles's face paled made Erik frown.

"Dude, you okay?" Azazel asked.

"Fine." Charles said quickly. Erik could swear he was wobbling on his feet. "What did I miss?"

"Everything has been worked out." Azazel said cheerfully. "And you've been dragged over to celebrate with us."

"Did you get the homework from the classes you missed?"

"Buzzkill." Azazel muttered.

"I came in early and got it." Janos said.

Azazel looked around him. "Did I suddenly become the only slacker in this group?"

Erik rolled his eyes. Janos shrugged. Charles just sighed.

"You people." Azazel grumbled. "I got work from everyone except Ms. Mulligan, and I can just drop into Spanish after Calculus."

"You are aware that we have a quiz?" Janos asked slowly.

"_What._"

"Yeah, and dude, she's going to make you take it today."

Azazel swore. "Do you know what it's going to be on?"

"Something with verbs?" Janos shrugged. "I don't study for Spanish."

"Freaking fluent speaking people…" Azazel turned. "Charles?"

"I'm sorry, I don't take Spanish." At least Azazel had managed to jerk Charles out of the morning daze. "Ms. Mulligan spends most of her time before school starts in the library, you could make a personal appeal?"

"Do those _work?_" Charles shrugged. "How long until homeroom?"

"Two minutes." Janos said, looking at his watch. "Better run."

"Crap." Azazel whirled around. "Why do I not remember which way the library is?"

"Left, down the hall, down two flights of stairs, third door on the right." Charles offered.

"1 minute 45 seconds." Erik said. Azazel shot him a dirty look.

"Just run." Janos advised. "Think suicide sprint."

"If you trip down the stairs and die, try to land on a freshman."

Janos elbowed Erik. "Good luck."

Azazel quickly glanced around and, seeing that the combined bulk of Charles's backpack and Erik's chest blocked the last stragglers from seeing into their group, slapped Janos's ass. "Thanks babe."

Janos blushed, and Azazel bolted down the hallway.

"Babe?" Charles sounded amused.

"I said we worked it out, and can I explain this at lunch so we're not all late to homeroom?" Janos said.

"Good point." Charles hurried off. Erik waited behind a second to watch Charles's stride. Charles was favoring his left side, Erik was almost certain of it. And the student had knocked into his _right _side.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Lensherr, is it too much for me to ask that you at least pretend to pay attention to my subject?" Ms. Munroe asked tartly.<p>

"I was paying attention." Erik lied, restraining the urge to glower at her. He hadn't been, of course, but his homeroom teacher had confisticated Erik's coffee, and Erik thought it a credit to his semi-new work ethic that he was even awake.

"What was I talking about?" Ms. Munroe asked, her fingers tapping her arm.

Erik glanced down at Charles's notes, reading the section Charles's hand was quite coincidentally pointing towards.

"And I'll thank you, Charles, to abstain from feeding him answers." She said harshly. Charles ducked his head, and Erik glared at Ms. Munroe.

"We were having a class discussion on the fallacies of clean coal." He said coldly.

"Next time, I'll thank you to do it on your own." Ms. Munroe said. She looked slightly less like she was about to breathe fire now. Erik was guessing that had more to do with Charles than him. "Participation _is_ part of your grade."

"Yes Ms. Munroe." Erik said dutifully, and immediately went back to his former train of thought. Even if he'd been willing to put the effort into paying attention to Ms. Munroe and the discussion, he didn't think it would be possible.

He couldn't tell if the burn on Charles's forearm had faded. Charles's clothing today was bulky enough that he couldn't have gotten a glimpse of Charles's arms even if Charles wasn't holding both of them so close.

_There's a burn on Charles's forearm he doesn't want people to see._

It could be normal. Could just be Charles not wanting to show a vulnerable spot to the people who picked on him. Frankly, if Erik had that many people willing to pick on him, he'd hide any weaknesses.

It suddenly occurred to Erik that getting hit at home could be seen as a pretty big weakness.

"Charles." He muttered.

"Ms. Munroe's going to kill you." Charles muttered back. "You do realize we sit at the front of the room?"

"Can I talk to you after school?"

"No."

"Since when?" Erik was willing to admit that it had been an idiotic question, mainly because he figured the answer would obviously be yes.

"I need to go straight home today."

"Why?" Erik demanded.

"Mr. Lensherr!" Ms. Munroe snapped. "If you're incapable of sitting next to Charles without engaging in pointless conversation, perhaps I should move you to the dunce corner."

"Since when do we have a dunce corner?" Erik asked.

"Since…" Ms. Munroe sighed. "I assure you Mr. Lensherr, one could be created if need arises. Until then, expect detention the next time you open your mouth."

"What if-" Charles stepped on his foot. Erik stopped talking, Ms. Munroe went back to her lecture, and Charles went back to taking notes.

To no one's surprise, the bell rang before Ms. Munroe finished. "Read the next chapter, don't bother with the questions. And Erik, stay behind."

Erik approached the desk with caution. "Yes?"

"Some students would immediately offer an apology for disrupting the class. Twice." Ms. Munroe sighed. "I wanted your opinion."

"On what?" Erik asked warily.

"Does Charles seem off balance to you?"

This again. "I don't know."

"Erik, I understand that you're both teenagers, and that you have an instinct to not tell a teacher anything. But if your friend is in real trouble, then there may be very little you do to help by yourself. If you want to help him, get some adult support." Ms. Munroe paused, waiting for Erik to say something. "Before the situation escalates."

"Why, what do you think the situation is?" It slipped out before Erik could stop it.

"Never mind, Erik." Ms. Munroe sighed.

"I need to get to my next class." Erik said.

"I'll write you a pass." Ms. Munroe said grimly. "And God save me from the stubbornness of teenagers."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Charles." Erik sat down to lunch.<p>

"Yes?" Charles looked up from his book.

"I need to talk to you after school."

"I'm sorry, I need to go straight home." Charles mumbled.

"Yeah, you told me. This is kind of urgent."

"Then just talk to me now." Charles said dryly. "We have twenty minutes."

"It's also private." Erik glanced around. The cafeteria was crowded enough that a conversation could be held with some privacy, but Erik wasn't prepared to risk someone overhearing this. Including Azazel and Janos, both of whom were fast approaching. "Please."

"Fine." Charles said. Erik thought there was a strange bit of relief in his eyes. "Did Ms. Mulligan postpone the quiz for you?"

"No." Azazel grumbled, sitting. "And she moved Janos to the other side of room, so I couldn't cheat off him. If she doesn't move him back, I'm going to freaking flunk Spanish. Kill me now."

"Ignore him." Janos sat down. "He's just bitter."

"You foreigners don't understand." Azazel included Erik in his glare. "Charles, you can back me up."

"J'ai une note parfait en francais." Charles shrugged. "Et je ne suis pas un Francais."

"I hate all of you." Azazel said darkly.

"Even the babe?" Erik asked.

"The babe." Azazel lowered his voice. "Has a nice ass, which makes up for a stupidly high grade."

"I regret asking."

"Heh." Azazel snickered. "Nah, I decided that he's worth my charity."

"And you're going out with him because?" Charles asked Janos.

"He's nicer in private." Janos grinned.

"Please stop talking." Erik said.

Janos and Azazel both began to laugh, and Erik wished that all problems could be solved that easily. Charles resumed eating, and for all that Janos and Azazel had clearly cheered him up, he looked worn out.

* * *

><p>"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Charles leaned against his car. "Don't worry, none of the staff will be in the parking lot for another hour. The ones who don't leave immediately stay until at least five."<p>

"You look like crap lately." Erik had thought about this for the last three periods, and that was his opening. Smooth, Lensherr.

"Lately?" Charles rolled his eyes. "I suppose that's a compliment."

"No, seriously." Erik said. "Even Ms. Munroe has been noticing, she keeps asking me to check up on you."

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing, because you don't tell me anything."

"That's because I'm fine." Charles said flatly. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Except that you're really _not_." Erik gestured to him. "You show up with new bruises every day, and lately you look like you're two seconds from dropping dead just because someone bumps into you."

"My classes have gotten harder, and I'm not getting as much sleep." Charles said.

"You don't limp because you don't get sleep." Erik said sharply.

"I am _fine._" Charles snapped. "And I've got to pick up my sister, so if that was all…"

"I think Ms. Munroe thinks you have a difficult home life." Erik overrode him.

"That's frankly insulting." Charles didn't look in his eyes.

"No, it's not." Erik was starting to get frustrated. "Charles, nobody gets that many bruises when they aren't even clumsy - "

"What are you accusing my family of?" Charles looked pissed.

"Hitting you." Erik said flatly.

Charles's face went a degree paler. "Are you _serious_?"

"You never talk about your parents, and did I mention the injuries!" Erik stepped closer to Charles. Charles flinched back, ducking his head. Erik stopped. "What?"

"I'm sorry, it was just reflexive…" Charles took a deep breath. "I have to pick up Raven."

"Do you think I'd…I'm trying to _help_." Erik said. He lowered his voice, trying not to sound so aggressive.

"I know, and that's very nice of you, but I don't need any help." Charles began to back towards his car door. "Because there is no difficult situation."

"Then what the hell is up with you!?"

"Nothing!" Charles fumbled for the car door.

"Really." It took Erik one step to be so close to Charles he was towering over him. Charles flinched, and Erik jerked back. "Shit. Charles, I'm sorry, that was incredibly douchey…"

"This is ridiculous." Charles got his car door open at last, and slid in. "And I have a sister waiting for me."

"Charles, I'm sorry, I was only trying to…" The car revved, and Erik quickly stepped back. "To help." Erik watched Charles drive out of the parking lot, breaking the school zone speed limit. "Shit."

* * *

><p>"What's wrong?" Erik's mother asked. Erik was sitting in the living room, trying and failing to concentrate on his studies. She'd been reading, and noticing that her son was more preoccupied than was typical.<p>

"Nothing."

"Really." She put down the book.

"I just…" Erik shook his head. "I suck."

"What gave you that idea?"

"I sort of made a bad situation a lot worse today. I think." Erik sighed.

"If you want to talk about it…"

"I don't think Ch-I don't think that's a good idea." Erik was pretty sure Charles wouldn't be talking to him tomorrow, and if Erik wanted forgiveness by graduation, talking about it with his Mom wouldn't help.

"Charles is involved?" His Mom focused on him. "How, exactly?"

"Never mind." Erik said. "It's not a big deal."

"Lying to me, my child, does not work. But if you need help…" She picked up the book again.

Erik sighed and rubbed his head. He could just call CPS. He could Google their number, and then what the hell was he supposed to actually tell them?

Fuck it. If Charles wouldn't talk to him, he was going to just talk with Ms. Munroe about this because he was so completely out of his depth.

Erik's phone buzzed.

"Hello?" Erik hurried to his room and shut the door.

"Erik?"

"Charles?" Erik sat down on his bed.

"I'm sorry, I know it's late, but can I crash with you? I know, it's a pain, and I'm sorry to ask, but we don't have anywhere else to go and…." Charles took a shuddering breath. "It'll only be for tonight."

"Yeah, sure." Erik said immediately.

"Thank you." Charles said. Erik heard him say something to someone off line. "We'll be there in less than half an hour."

Charles hung up. Erik slowly got up and returned to the living room. "Mama?"

"Ja?" His mother's brow furrowed.

"Charles needs a place to stay for the night, and I told him he could stay here." Erik swallowed. "I think he's got Raven."

"Of course he can stay here." His mother said quietly. "I'll go put a pot of tea on."

**A/N: So ah, how's life been for all y'all who have this on story alert?**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm uploading everything I had comprehensively written because I am fully capable of forgetting to upload for another million years. Sorry if it spams your inbox!**

Charles showed up nearly an hour later. He had Raven with him, wrapped up in a baby blue cardigan with her head tucked up against Charles's shoulder. Charles stared at the welcome mat. It was scuffed over with a few hundred boot marks, and said "willkommen". They'd brought it over when they moved from Germany and Erik was pretty sure it was a piece of his family's ancestry.

"There's nothing that interesting on the floor." Erik said quietly. Charles's eyes darted up, then went back to looking at the frayed cloth. "Come in."

Charles came inside, his shoulders hunched defensively.

"Charles." Erik's mother was in the kitchen still, with the simmering pot. "If you need a thing, take."

"Thank you, Ms. Lensherr." Charles's voice was barely audible. "I'm sorry to be an inconvenience."

"No trouble, no trouble." She looked between him and Erik. "I will be in the kitchen."

Charles mumbled something indecipherable in response. Erik noticed that he had his backpack strung over the shoulder Raven wasn't curled around. It was stuffed with books, and seemed to have a couple of bits of clothing sticking out of one side. He must have packed in a hurry.

"I'm sorry." Charles said softly, as soon as Erik's mother had retreated. "I know this is an imposition, I just didn't know where else to go."

"It's no problem." Erik nodded towards his room. "You can sleep in my room, I'll take the couch."

"No, Erik…" Charles protested weakly.

"It's fine, I've fallen asleep there before." Erik touched Charles's shoulder, just barely brushing his fingers over Charles's shirt. "Do you need anything?"

"Do you have a first aid kit?" Charles glanced up at him, almost making eye contact. "I, um…"

"It's in the bathroom." Erik said.

"Let me put Raven down first. Thank you." Erik held open the door to his room. He'd cleaned it as much as he could in the last hour. The books were off the bed, all magazines stuffed away, and he'd chucked the dirty clothing in a pile in the corner. Charles seemed to almost smile at the abysmal attempt Erik had made to properly make his bed.

"Shh." Charles knelt down next to the bed and began to dislodge Raven. She whimpered in her sleep and clung to his shoulder. "It's okay. We're at Erik's house, and I'm going to be right back. I just need a second."

He tucked Raven beneath the covers, not bothering to remove the cardigan. Both of her fists held bunches of fabric, and in the absence of Charles himself, she seemed to realign herself so as much fabric was pressed against her as possible.

It sort of made Erik want to find his old teddy bear.

"The bathroom is the first door on the right." The instructions were hardly necessary; the apartment only had three other rooms. "The kit is beneath the sink."

"Thanks." Charles padded away, the bathroom door clicking shut behind him. Erik went to the kitchen, to hover by his mother.

"Here." She handed him a cup of tea on a saucer. It was hot enough that the warmth leaked into the saucer. "Take this to him."

"Ja." Erik said obediently. He took four steps, almost to the bathroom door, and resumed hovering. After five minutes of total silence, Erik knocked on the door. The walls in this building were too thin for total silence to be a good thing. "Charles?"

"I'm fine."

"I have some tea…" Erik glanced down at it dubiously. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Fine." The door cracked open, and Erik slipped inside.

Erik had had dreams about being shirtless with Charles. None of them had been anything like this. Charles had his arms crossed and his hands tucked under them, and was shivering even though the building commissioner had just fixed the heating. The first aid kit was open on the toilet seat, with iodine and bandages on the edge of the sink.

"I may have slightly under-stated the difficulty of my home life." Charles said quietly.

"Shit." Erik breathed. Charles was covered in bruises. Blots as black as Erik's turtleneck dotted his arms, some small as fingerprints and others as wide as a crowbar. Charles's arms were crossed, but it was easy to see another burn on his upper forearm, and a purplish mark on his upper chest. Lower on him, where Erik was pretty sure his kidneys were located, the skin was a mix of green and yellow. It reminded Erik of vomit. "Shit."

"Yeah." Charles swallowed. Erik put the tea on the edge of the sink. "Your mother keeps a good first aid kit."

"I used to get into scrapes pretty often." Erik's eyes were drawn to the marks where skin was pink and looked hot to touch. "What…Charles, what _happened_?"

"My…" Charles swallowed. "I have some bruises on my back, and a few scrapes, and I can't get to them with the icepack."

"I've got it." The pack, a stupid orange thing that you were supposed to mash to make colder, was already out. Charles must have been getting his arms. Erik picked it up and moved behind Charles. He hissed.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Charles said quietly.

"Are you sure? It looks…" Erik shut up. The deep smattering of bruises over Charles's shoulders had to have been years old, one for every time Charles had been pushed up against a set of lockers. But the angry red marks on his lower back…Erik reached down a gently touched the skin above them. It was hot, and Erik couldn't tell whether that was just Charles, or some sort of infection.

"They just need ice." Charles picked up the iodine again, and dabbed it on a bandage. He pressed it to one of the scrapes on his arms.

"Maybe you should get a doctor in." Erik pressed the icepack to the marks.

"They'd report it." Charles said. It wasn't the same flat, angry tone as earlier in the day. Charles just sounded tired.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Erik was, as a rule, not inclined to appeal to authority. He was however, willing to make an exception in this case.

"I called CPS once, a few years ago." Charles took a deep breath. He was shivering harder. "It didn't exactly work out well for me."

"This doesn't count as _evidence_?" Erik burst out. Charles flinched. "Sorry, sorry. Charles, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been pushing or…"

"It's fine." Charles took another deep breath. "Thank you for letting us crash here. I didn't know where we were going to go."

"What happened?" Erik asked. At this point, he didn't know whether he was asking about the recent injuries, CPS, or just how in the world Charles's life had culminated in him shivering in the bathroom of Erik's crummy apartment.

"My stepfather came home a few weeks ago." Charles said. Erik saw his hand clench around the bandage. "He doesn't like me."

"Moron." Erik said without thinking.

"I wish." Charles laughed tiredly. "No, he's an intelligent man."

"How can you…" Erik knew he should stop, and couldn't. "How can you act like nothing is wrong here?!"

"Hating him wouldn't do much. My stepfather is this horrible, bastion of _hate_ for everyone and I'm not…I mean, I'm afraid…" Charles put a hand on his mouth. Erik realized that the shivering was trembling.

"You know, you're the least hateful person I know." Erik said gently.

"I do hate him." Charles let out a hiccupy sound. "I hate him, and I hate Cain, and I hate my mother sometimes for being an alcoholic wreck who married him in the first place."

"Oh…" Erik wished for better words. "You're going to Oxford, you're leaving."

"Like a college education makes you perfect. Kurt is a nuclear physicist." Charles let out a croaking sort of laugh. "He's a man of science and might even be a genius, for all I know, and he still hates fags and dykes and hippies and God, he hates _commies_ as if that wasn't the most ridiculous thing in this day and age and…" Charles gulped. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Erik kept the pressure on the marks.

"For unloading all of this on you." Charles mumbled. "You don't deserve this."

"I don't mind. I think I know at least a little bit about why not to bottle up emotions." Erik took the icepack off, and put it on Charles's shoulders. He'd always imagined that Charles's skin was like porcelain, or silk, or some other type of poetic crap, not mottled over with old hurts.

"Yeah." Charles laughed weakly. "I just didn't know where else to go. Normally I'd go to a hotel, or hide out in the servant's quarters but he was just…" Charles clammed up.

_Normally?_ Erik fumed. "Just?"

"He just got back from a conference, I think in England. He hates Britain too. And he's been at me all week, but tonight I think he was drinking, or he got a call from Cain's school to tell them Cain, brute that he is - God, I wish all people full of hate were like Cain, things would be so much easier to manage - that Cain flunked or got into a fight, and then there's me and I'm smart as him but I've never punched a man and he just came after me…" Charles was shaking harder. "He shoved me down the stairs…" Charles must have sensed the fury emanating from Erik. "It's not a big deal Erik, they're shallow and I know how to roll…usually he'd stop there, but tonight something about him, he was so angry, and he had a poker from the study and I was afraid he would just, _stab_ or hit me in the head, and he almost did and I just _ran._"

Erik's hands weren't crushing the icepack anymore. They were slack, as Erik listened numbly.

"I grabbed Raven and we were going to hide in the servant's quarters but he was so angry and I was afraid that he would find us and I couldn't keep moving all night, not with Raven, and I was going to go to a hotel, but I didn't have cash and he could find us if I went with a credit card…"

"What?"

"There are what, four hotels in town, Erik? Two, if you don't want to run the risk of bedbugs and stabbings? I thought he would…"

"He'd drag you out?" Erik asked in dumb horror.

"He's done it before." Charles giggled, with an edge of hysteria.

"But someone would report…or at least, we'd hear a rumor…" Erik tried to picture some ugly man, who wore a lab coat and looked vaguely like Cain, dragging a struggling Charles out of a motel room.

"You don't get it Erik, you're _poor_." Charles flinched. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Erik was well aware of his socio economic situation.

"Just…things are different when you have money, Erik. The Xavier Trust pays for half of the only museum in this crappy town, and we subsidize the city council. No one is going to poke around." Charles said, his tone quiet again, unlike the outpouring of moments ago. "And if they do, they get put down. Kurt is big, and important, moreso than anyone else in this hellhole. And even if CPS showed any real interest…I mean, they might decide that Raven would be better off without me…" Charles took a deep breath. "All I need is a few more months, and both of us are gone."

"Stay here." Erik blurted the invitation.

"Thank you. But I can't." Charles shuddered. "My mother, she'll…I don't know how I'll leave her alone to go to college, I can't abandon her now. Kurt isn't there every day, I can deal." Charles shuddered. "I just need to survive until summer."

_Oh Charles, that's months from now. _Erik put a hand on Charles's shoulder. Charles trembled harder as Erik turned him around. Without his arms crossed, the bruises on Charles's chest were more obvious.

"Is this the worst it's been?" Erik asked softly.

"During the school year." Charles said miserably. "He locked me in a closet for two days once over the summer, but nothing major. I mean, there have been a few broken bones, but never in the school year. He's poker buddies with our principal, but he's not stupid."

"No wonder you like school." Erik said.

Charles managed a smile. It looked so much like all of Charles's other smiles. "I like learning." The smile broke, and Charles looked scared again. Scared, and small, and young. "Please don't tell Ms. Munroe." Erik hesitated a second. "Please, Erik, she'll go to CPS I know she will, and I don't want strangers investigating this, or looking into it please, it's _humiliating_, and she'll be horrified and disappointed in me and…"

Erik took his hand off Charles's shoulder and hugged him. Charles went perfectly still. Erik didn't hug often, or even touch people, but he didn't know all that many ways of offering support and reassurance.

"I won't. I'll do whatever you want, Charles, just let me help." Charles began to shake. Erik realized that he was trying not to cry, and failing, great whuffs of air escaping his throat like sobs. Charles shoved a hand at his face, trying to wipe it. "Shh, shh…"

Charles went limp, curling into Erik. He was still trying to rub away the tears, but he let his frame shake. Erik held him and rocked and wondered how long it had been since Charles had anyway to offer him any sort of support, however abysmal.

Charles composed himself faster than Erik could have imagined. "Sorry."

"Charles…"

"Stop apologizing, I know." Charles hiccupped. "Some kind of pathetic, huh."

"That's not the word I would use." Erik picked the pack up again. "Do you…"

"No. Those are a few days old, from when he tried to hit me with one of our coffee tables. He didn't get my kidneys, it was fine." Charles picked up his shirt. "Thank you. For…for listening I mean, not just letting us stay here."

"Look, I'm happy to listen. Seriously, if there's anything I can do, I don't care what it is, I'll do it." Erik said desperately. "It's not trouble, it's really not."

"Thanks." Charles buttoned up his shirt.

"I'll clean up the first aid for you." Erik said. "Get some rest."

"I'll try." Charles picked the mug off the sink. "Please thank you mother for the tea."

"I will." Erik watched Charles walk on those same light feet back to his room.

* * *

><p>Erik had trouble getting to sleep that night. He stayed up in the living room after his mother had retreated to her bedroom, reviewing Enviro homework. Erik figured that as long as Ms. Monroe was pissed at him, he ought to at least spite her by doing well on her tests.<p>

There was a noise, and his bedroom door opened. Charles was standing there - he'd exchanged the normal Cardigan for a sweatshirt advertising Bacon by way of chemistry and pajama pants, and was bouncing Raven in his arms.

"Shh, shh, shh." Charles sight of him and blushed. "Sorry."

"Is she okay?" Erik asked. He put down the textbook.

"Just a nightmare." Charles kept rocking her. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you would be out here. I usually walk her when she's like this, but there wasn't room…"

"Yeah, we don't have much floor space." Erik said. "I wasn't sleeping anyway."

"Sorry." Charles repeated. He shushed Raven again. She was still wrapped up in the cardigan, and was quiet now. Charles stepped back.

"Hey, stay out here. If neither of is sleeping, we might as well not sleep together." Erik realized how that sounded the second it left his mouth. "Um."

Charles laughed softly and perched on the other end of the couch. "Nice shirt."

"Hey, eagles were Germany's national emblem while you colonists were still trying to decide whether you wanted a national bank." Erik plucked at the black and gold fabric. "Besides, it was clean."

"Bit small." Charles muttered.

"You underestimate the value of clean." Erik said. Raven sniffled, and they both fell silent. Charles rubbed her back, and she stopped. "Is she okay?"

"I try not to let her see any of the worst bits." Charles said softly. "She barely knows mother."

"She's lucky to have you." Erik observed.

"I'm lucky to have her." Charles corrected him. He cuddled her closer. "Having her with you in winter is better than having a hot water bottle in the bed, I swear."

"Are you cold?" Erik frowned at him. "Our super still hasn't properly fixed the heating, I know."

"A little." Charles admitted.

"Here." Erik rolled over and reached behind the couch. There were a few blankets stored there, ones that he and his mother hadn't needed since last winter. Erik handed one to Charles. "It might be dusty, but they're warm."

"Thanks." Charles shifted Raven and managed to wrap the cover around his shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Studying. Ms. Monroe's test is in a few days." Erik sighed.

"Oh." Charles chuckled. "Ten bucks says that half of it is just about why clean coal doesn't exist."

"You're on." Erik hesitated. "You know, she's really concerned about you."

"I've noticed." Charles undid a tangle in Raven's hair with one hand. "I don't want her involved."

"I think she's going to get involved." Erik said.

"It's _none_ of her business." Charles said in a sharp whisper. "I wouldn't have gotten you in this if I had a choice, let alone a teacher." Charles sighed. "I'm sorry. That was harsh. This whole situation is such a mess, and most of it's my fault, I should be the one to deal with it."

"Excuse me?" Erik stared at him.

"It's humiliating, Erik." Charles shuddered, taking one hand off Raven's back to rub his face. "Could we please switch to another topic?"

"If you want." Erik was trying to work his way around that last part. "Um, want to play chess?"

"Sorry?"

"My mother, she has an old set." Erik gestured to behind the couch, where they kept most things. "We don't really play anymore, since we're both busy, but it seemed like the sort of game you'd like."

"I would love to play chess." Charles genuinely smiled.

Erik set up the board, and Charles switched Raven so she was on the couch next to him, with her head on his leg. "You can have white."

"You take it. I like playing defensively." Charles studied the board. "The first move is a key way to evaluate your opponent's initial strategy."

Erik had the sinking feeling that he'd made a mistake in this.

* * *

><p>Edie Lensherr woke early. She hadn't slept well the previous night. She never did, when there were strange people in the house, but it was harder when the strange people were a pair of abused children her son had befriended.<p>

Or so she assumed. She had the feeling that the origin of this friendship was rooted in more complications than she wanted to understand. The important thing was that those two poor kids weren't at home.

She padded to the kitchen and stopped. The sight in the living room was worth a smile. Her son was half on top of their old chess board, one hand touching Charles's shoulder. Charles was curled up on the edge of the cushion, his little sister sprawled over his lap.

Edie was tempted to get a camera and snap a picture of this, just so she could remind them of it in future years.

She restrained herself and went to the kitchen to make up a strong pot of tea.

* * *

><p>Charles woke up as soon as he heard the clink of kettle on stove. It took a second to figure out why he was on a couch instead of at home…oh. Charles winced.<p>

"Mpgshlorp." Erik woke up. "Whazza?"

"Hey." Charles nudged Raven. "Sweetheart, time to wake up."

"Huh?" Raven lifted her head. She grabbed Charles's pant leg. "Charles!"

"We're at Erik's home, remember?" Charles said gently. Raven caught sight of Erik and relaxed, cuddling back into Charles's side. "Good morning, Erik."

"Morning." Erik muttered. "Ungh."

"Not a morning person?" Charles, God help him, thought Erik looked adorable. His hair was mussed, and his clingy t-shirt had ridden up, exposing hips and stomach. Conversely, his sweats were bunched around his ankles, which looked ridiculous.

"Why don't you go…" Erik changed his tone. "No, not really."

Charles felt the pit of his stomach sink. "What time is it?"

"Ten o clock." Erik's mother said from the kitchen.

Pure panic welled up in Charles. "_What?_ Erik, we're hours late for school."

And he hadn't done any homework last night, or studied, and he had no idea what he was going to pack in Raven's lunch today…

"Charles, the world doesn't stop rotating if we miss a day of school." Erik got up and stretched.

"Ja, exactly." Erik mother walked in and sat on the edge of the coffee table. The couch was the only furniture in the living room, excepting the table that extended half into the kitchen. Charles shifted self-consciously. "We must talk."

"I'm sorry." Charles couldn't stop the words. "I know I shouldn't have dumped this on you, and you've been dreadfully kind, it won't happen again…"

"Nein." Erik's mother held up a hand. Charles instantly clammed up. "You come here as often as you need. We don't mind. Your safety is important."

Charles stared at the floor and willed himself not to cry. "Thank you, ma'am."

**A/N:** **I actually have nothing to say I just don't like there not being bookends to the chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I forgot to say in any of the earlier notes-happy Valentine's Day!**

Charles's eyes were still prickling fifteen minutes later. Erik's mother had offered to make them all an actual breakfast. Charles was used to energy bars for himself, unless he woke up early enough to find the maid and ask for her to make Raven some eggs.

"You have a lot of different kinds of bread." Charles noted quietly. He sipped at his tea.

"The old people who live beneath us give us food whenever I fix something in their apartment." Erik said. "D'you want any condiments?"

"Jam, I suppose." Charles nudged Raven. She was seated on his lap, and watching Ms. Lensherr move around the kitchen with some wariness. "Raven, do you want some toast?"

"Mmhm." Charles was fluent enough in tired five year old that he could interpret that as a "yes please". Well, a yes, at least. And he really wasn't in the mood to press her for the please right now.

"Here." Erik passed them a basket of different slices. Charles stared. "Take the one with the seeds, its best with jam."

"Thanks." Charles hesitantly took two pieces and the jar Erik passed him. "Look, I can pay you back for this."

"We're not _that_ hard up." Erik said. He quickly corrected his tone. "I mean, it's fine. Mama, were you making tea?"

"Ja." Charles shifted uncomfortably as Erik's mother put a fresh cup down next to him. He was horribly aware that they were both drinking coffee, and clearly the only reason the tea was brewed in the first place was because of him. "Raven, would you like something to drink?"

"Mmhm." Raven didn't look up.

"Raven." Charles said. To chastise for being rude, or to let slide because she's tired and scared…

"It's fine." Erik's mother smiled understandingly. "Milk, maybe?"

"That would be lovely, thank you." Charles sipped his tea again. "And thank you for the bread. And um, jam and such."

"It's just breakfast." Erik said. "Seriously."

"I will need to go to work in minutes." Ms. Lensherr said. She looked a bit frustrated. "I can try to come home early."

"It's fine, Ms. Lensherr, really." Charles said quickly. He wasn't enormously familiar with the world of average jobs, but he didn't want her getting fired over him.

"That's very nice." She shot him a smile. "Erik, Schauen dir nach ihm."

One of these days, Charles needed to learn German. He was sure he could take a class in it at Oxford.

"Ja, Mama." Erik replied.

"Tschus, Charles, Erik." Erik's mother said. Charles stared down at his jam while she put on a coat and left.

"So." Erik said, clearing his throat.

"I have some schoolwork I need to catch up on." Charles blurted out.

"I think I do too." Erik shrugged. "I've got my textbooks here, if you want them."

"Oh no, I brought mine." Charles finished his piece of bread and got up, picking Raven up and putting her in the chair next to his. She was actually nibbling on her toast now, thankfully. He hesitated, trying to find how to word his next statement. "I um…do you mind if I lock your apartment door?"

"It's already locked." Erik said.

Oh. "Do you mind if I check?" Charles flushed.

"Go ahead." Erik looked at Raven. "Hey, you. What do you feel like doing today?"

"Coloring." Raven mumbled.

Charles checked the door. It was locked, and there was a deadbolt on it. That made him feel infinitesimally better. But in the rush to get out of the house, he hadn't managed to get anything of Raven's but another set of clothing and one of her books…

"I've got a notebook." Erik offered. "And some purple pens."

"Purple?" Raven perked up.

"Yeah." Erik got up. Charles focused on the ground. "They're in my room. Let me just grab them for you." Erik took the maybe four steps that were required to get from the kitchen to his room.

"Am I going to school?" Raven asked hesitantly.

Charles crouched in front of her chair. "No, not today."

"Tomorrow?"

"Maybe." Charles had a chem test tomorrow, he _needed _to be in school, and he hadn't brought a change of clothing for himself anyway. Oh, and he needed to call Moira, before she called their house to ask why Raven wasn't in school.

"I also found green and red pens." Erik walked back into the room. Charles scrambled back up. "Here."

Raven reached for them, and for the notebook Erik had given her. Charles coughed loudly. "Thank you."

"Thattagirl." Charles sighed. "Erik, I'm sorry, but I need to call her school…"

"Do you need a phone?" Erik sat down opposite Raven. He was also holding a Classics textbook.

"I have my cell." Charles hurried to the bathroom and dialed the number for Raven's kindergarten, praying that he would catch the secretary before they called home. The phone rang.

"Lincoln Elementary?"

Charles breathed out in relief. "Hi, this is Charles Xavier."

"Charles!" The secretary brightened. "Hold on, I'll connect you to Ms. McTaggert. We noticed that Raven wasn't in today."

"She's sick." Charles said apologetically. "I hope you didn't waste time calling home already - I haven't been able to get to the phone."

"No, I was just going to start the parent notifications." _Thank any and every higher power that may or may not exist. _Charles waited. "Just a sec, I've paged Ms. McTaggert. I hope you aren't sick too?"

Charles bit down on his tongue before answering. "No, not yet. Raven isn't very bad - she's just sneezing too frequently, I don't think she even thinks she's sick. But what with all the flu scares lately, I thought it would be best to make sure she didn't infect anyone."

"Ooo, has she not gotten her shots yet?" The secretary asked sympathetically.

_Shit_. Charles had completely forgotten that he needed to schedule them both appointments for flu shots. "No, but she has an appointment coming up soon, mother arranged it last week."

"Good on you for not bringing her in. After those lice last year…" Charles could practically feel the woman shudder over the phone. "Here's Ms. McTaggert. You look after yourselves, don't go getting sick too."

"I'll do my best." Charles waited as the phone passed hands. "Moira?"

"Charles!" Moira greeted him cheerfully. "Raven sick?"

"Unfortunately, with very light flu symptoms." Charles swallowed and rebouncied his tone. "I just wanted to let the school know we hadn't made an impromptu move to Britain or anything similar."

"Don't even joke." Moira said. "Well, she's not missing anything but coloring and the differences between T, E and F."

"I'm guessing you'll be writing FEET on the board quite often today." Charles rubbed his forearm around his stomach, and was rewarded with a dull throb of pain. "Good luck containing the odorous jokes."

"I have a small file in my brain devoted solely to reasons why smell-related humor isn't high grade material." Moira replied. "Will Raven be back tomorrow?"

"I…" Charles swallowed. _Crap, crap, crap_. "I'm hoping she'll be fine by then, but there's a faint possibility I'll keep her home another day. Just to be safe, since I'd really rather not risk infecting your entire school."

"Thanks for the consideration." Moira said wryly. "Well, I've got to get back to the classroom before a fight breaks out over the new crayons."

"If the kindergarteners tear you limb from limb, I'll be sure to send flowers."

"If only that wasn't a legitimate concern." Moira sighed. "I'll see you around. Give your parents my best, and tell Raven we all miss her."

"Will do." Charles ended the call and stretched. His back felt surprisingly okay.

Having gathered textbooks from Erik's room (and resisted the enormously strong temptation to poke around), Charles sat down across from Raven. "What are you drawing, sweetheart?"

"A dragon." Raven beamed at him.

Charles glanced at Erik, who raised his eyebrows. Charles couldn't actually tell how the mass of squiggles was a dragon either. He restrained a laugh.

"What are you doing in classics?" Charles asked. Anything to keep Erik talking so he didn't have to think about how he was going to get them both back home without Kurt blowing up.

"Gladiators." Erik shrugged.

"Ah." Charles debated making a joke about homoeroticism and decided to just concentrate on his physics book. "I think Raven has a children's book about someone named Spartapuss, if you want reference."

"Thank you for that generous offer." Erik rolled his eyes. "I mean, really thanks. I guess it could provide…cultural something."

_Great_. "Are you doing any Latin translations?"

"I would be amazed if our teacher even knows Latin, we're just talking about culture and different we - foods and sh - stuff."

"Oh." Charles resigned himself to studying physics and trying not to think about how his mother was doing right now.

* * *

><p>Erik was just now realizing how grateful ought to be to his mother.<p>

"No, Raven, we can't go to the Aquarium."

"I want to see a shark!"

"Raven, its two towns over, and its naptime anyway." Charles said severely. "In fact, I've let you stay up about half an hour past your naptime because Erik's here and you were drawing with him."

Erik was under the impression that he had been nodding while Raven babbled and scribbled, but that worked.

"No!" Raven took a deep breath.

"Raven, I am going to count down from ten." Charles had somehow managed to duplicate the voices of every primary school teacher Erik had ever had. "Erik, can she sleep in your room again? I'm sorry, I realize it's a bother - "

"It's three thirty, it's not like I'm sleeping there." Erik said.

"Raven, I'm going to count down from ten. If you're not in Erik's room when I get to one, I'm not reading you a story before nap." Charles said. Raven glared. He paused. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five."

It was truly amazing how each number managed to sound direr than the last.

"Four." Raven turned and marched off to Erik's room, a scowl planted on her face. "That's my girl." He turned to Erik. "I'll be right back."

Erik watched Charles retreat into his room and wondered how a day where he'd literally done nothing but study and listen to a five year old had managed to be this exhausting.

Charles was back a few minutes later. He sat down at the table and shuffled his notes. "Sorry."

"She still has a naptime?" Erik asked.

"She didn't sleep well last night, I assumed she'd crash whenever I gave her the okay." Charles coughed. "I sort of use naptime as a way to make her be quiet. God help me when she learns to tell time and realizes my strategy."

"Yeah." Erik's phone buzzed. "Give me a minute."

"By all means." Charles shifted. "Um, may I use your computer?"

"Sure. If it doesn't boot up immediately, just hit…" Erik winced internally. He was going to try to not talk about hitting things. "Just nudge the modem gently. It's on the kitchen table."

"Okay." Charles padded into the kitchen. Erik flicked open his phone.

_U & Charles are both out! Is it _

_: ( Or ; )?_

_-J_

Erik had a moment of panic. There was no way in hell Charles would want Janos knowing about any of this. He stared at the phone, tapping the edge with his fingers.

"Erik?" Charles glanced at him.

"Janos texted me. Apparently he noticed that you were out."

"Would you mind not telling him that I'm here?" Charles ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to make you lie on my behalf, especially not to your friend, but…"

"Don't worry about it." Erik slowly began the laborious task of finding out which letters corresponded to which numbers. Freaking texting…

_I'm sick, jackass. No idea about Charles. _

His phone beeped a response seconds later. It made Erik wonder about how much time Janos had spent texting to acquire those kinds of skills.

_Heads up 4 2morrow: classics quiz & English project due_

Erik grimaced.

"Everything okay?" Charles was busily typing at the keyboard.

"Just an unexpected quiz." Erik shrugged. "Do you want me to ask Janos to ask around for your homework?"

"Erik, the sight of your abysmal texting skills is making _my_ fingers hurt. Don't bother." Charles frowned at the monitor. "Besides. Someone already sent it to me."

"Ms. Munroe?" Erik asked.

"No." Charles clicked on something. "I have no idea whose email that is."

Erik got up and moved behind Charles to peer at the screen. "perfection14 at yahoo?"

"Whoever it is, they did my English homework and I think they stole the study guide my calc. teacher uses." Charles blinked at the screen. "Trust me, Ms. Munroe wouldn't do that."

"You do have an email from her." Erik pointed out.

"Yeah." Charles closed the tab. "I'll check it later."

"Okay." Erik sat down next to him.

"Do you want help studying for Classics?" Charles asked.

"Nah. Classics isn't actually that hard." Erik was honestly regretting not spending any time studying at the beginning of the year.

"Is there something I _can_ help with?" Charles looked around. "I've cleaned Raven's room for her, so if there's something you need to get done in the apartment, I'm sure I could be of some use."

Erik thought. "I have to do the dishes from breakfast."

"Excellent." Charles looked heartily relieved.

* * *

><p>Doing the dishes went by quickly. Erik didn't say much.<p>

"I'm going to head back home tonight." Charles said, when Erik was putting the basket in a cabinet.

"What?" Erik turned around.

"I think it's for the best."

"You know you can stay here as long as you want, right?"

"Yes, I've gotten that impression." Charles shrugged and kept rubbing what Erik was certain was a completely dry plate. "But I can't just completely upend everything and take off. All of Raven's things are at home, and so are mine, and besides mother is there, not to mention the fact that Kurt will find out that we're here at some point and then you'll probably end up out on your heads, and I'm really not going to do that to you. You and your mother have been far kinder to me than warranted anyway."

"We really haven't been." Erik said. "Are you sure you don't want to get your things and just come back to stay here?"

"All of my things wouldn't fit." Charles mumbled. "If I go between five and five thirty, he'll probably be eating dinner, and I can just lock us both in my room."

"If you're not in school tomorrow, I'll call the cops." Erik offered.

Charles blanched. "Please don't."

"I'll come over myself then." Erik said.

"Erik, please." Charles swallowed. "I know, you want to help, but it's not that simple."

Erik let out a frustrated noise. "Fine. Are you sure you don't want to stay one more night?"

"I don't want to impose." Charles shook his head.

"Can I do _something_?" Erik realized that the tone was angry and immediately corrected it. "I mean. Is there anything which I _can_ do to help?"

"Not really." Charles said quietly. "I'm going to go pack up my things."

It was in this point in Erik's life that he came to an essential realization about his character. That being that he hated, nay, _despised_, being on the sidelines.

**A/N: I'm going to try to actually write the next couple of chapters and finish this fic now**


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